


Fate Is In Our Hands Now

by allseer15



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: F/M, Fix-It, Gen, New Game+, Overpowered Noctis, Time Travel, Umbra time travel mechanics, kind of
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-18
Updated: 2018-01-18
Packaged: 2019-03-06 14:42:37
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 38,291
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13413453
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/allseer15/pseuds/allseer15
Summary: Fulfilling his calling Noctis gives into oblivion...only. This isn't oblivion. This is a chance to make all things right.Alternatively:I wanted a fix-it, so I made one. Works within the Kingsglaive movie.





	Fate Is In Our Hands Now

**Author's Note:**

> I took some artistic liberties while writing this. I just really, really wanted Noct to finally have a happy ending, so yeah some of the things that happen are a little _too perfect_ but this was meant to be a feel good fic after playing the game in it's entirety.

There’s a certain peace about oblivion.

It was death and yet not death.

I was promised and told that if I completed my predestined task and restored light to the world, I would give everything I had just as all had given everything they had to me. It was a fair trade; one I could understand and bow my head under.

It still scared me. The thought of not even ascending to the stars like almost all of my ancestors before me, to watch over future generations of Kings of Lucii. It hurt to think of leaving the only people I had left in the world behind, to know that this task set before me was mine and mine alone.

And it relieved me. Even if I would never know death and instead disappear into oblivion, I would be at rest. I restored light to the world. I gave my brothers a chance at a happy future and made the world a safe place once more. No longer would they cower in the darkness, but bask in the warm and protection of light.

I suppose, if Luna was in the distance, then I was in the light.

It hurt. Gods, it hurt to go through with it, but I didn’t waver. I couldn’t. Not with everyone and everything on the line.

So it was with a tired sigh, a weary body, and a relieved smile, that I fell into oblivion.

“Ready…”

If I could breathe, I would’ve stopped. That…wasn’t supposed to be…

“Steady…”

Why? Wasn’t I supposed to be gone? Wasn’t this supposed to be nothing?

“Push!”

But…this wasn’t nothing. This was…something.

It took me a long moment to recognize this feeling as exertion. That should’ve been familiar to me what with how I spent my time after Insomnia fell, but I couldn’t quite…connect with my body. I could feel it there like I could often feel the crystal, but the link was weak. It was growing stronger, though.

“Un. Believable.”

My head started to spin, an ache building in the back of my head as I struggled to comprehend what was happening. This was familiar. I knew this. I knew those words, this exertion, this heat on my skin.

But I shouldn’t! Was I not supposed to be gone from this world? I gave my _life_ to restore light back to the world as was my duty.

So why was I pushing the Regalia in the middle of a summer, desert afternoon down a dusty highway.

“Not exactly a fairytale beginning, huh, Prince Noctis?”

My . . . “body” felt heavier. Heavier than I was prepared for as my connection to it fully bloomed and with one slow blink…

Light.

My breath caught in my throat as I blinked again and stared at the bombardment of colors around me. Warm earthy tones, bright shocking red, stalwart gray walls, slick black paint. It was all right here in front of me.

Definitely not oblivion.

The ramifications for everything I was feeling began to sink in and I felt my headache grow exponentially, a relief and focusing point in all this. This was…real.

“Not the beginning,” I murmured, my feet stumbling as the invisible weights on my body seemed to grow heavier.

“Did you say something, Highness?”

That voice. Oh gods, that voice. Smooth, dulcet tones that never failed in guiding me through life. My throbbing head was pushed aside as I whipped my head around to look, to see and confirm and prove that hope that was building in my chest.

Green eyes stared back from behind clear glasses that rested on an unscarred face.

My eyes burned with tears. “Ignis?” I choked, barely registering the frown the man was now wearing.

He was here. They were all here. _I_ was here.

In the past.

Agony spiked through my head and I dropped my hands from where I’d been mechanically pushing the Regalia—unblemished and perfect Regalia—and grabbed my temples, an instinctive reaction to keep my head from splitting open.

Rough black asphalt blurred before my eyes as I found myself on my knees, heaving up everything in my stomach and clutching my head.

Vaguely, I could hear worried shouts of my name, but I couldn’t focus. I could barely breathe.

I was in the past. Before the eternal night. Before Luna’s death. Before my brothers’ injuries. Before my father’s death. Before Insomnia’s fall.

It wasn’t finally over.

It was only just getting started.

 

FFXV

 

It was still strange to wake up given that not too long ago and I had resigned myself to never waking up again.

I blinked slowly and stared up at the shadowed cement ceiling above me before a low curse and a clang of metal had me jumping, going from horizontal to vertical in a split second.

Which I regretted immediately.

I gasped as the world seemed to flip upside down and then merrily spin about, my body giving out under the rush of vertigo. I was sure I was about to hit the floor hard and possibly lay there until I knew the world would stay as it should, but a warm arm caught me around my middle and pulled me back to a hard chest. “Whoa!” that oh-so-familiar and deep voice rumbled right next to my ear as I clutched the arm to my chest for dear life, using it as an anchor in the spinning world. “Easy there, Noct.”

“G-Gladio?” I turned my head and stared up and up to the face of my Shield, taking in his face with only the lone scar, worried eyes unburdened by sadness and fear, and hair that wasn’t long enough to pull into a half-ponytail. “Is…This is really you, isn’t it?”

The large man frowned. “Of course it’s me,” he answered before shifting and helping me sit back down. I didn’t really notice or care, too busy with staring at him. His massive, calloused hand slid by my cheek and moved his fingers into my hair, supporting my lolling head. “Are you alright? Is something wrong? You collapsed for no reason earlier.” He paused and seemed to be waiting for something. “Noct?”

I jolted at my name. “What?” I couldn’t remember what he’d said, my head spinning with thought and slight pain. My own hand—the hand I was used to before I woke up in an older body—slid up Gladiolus’ thick forearm to hold his wrist, letting me lean into his hand.

“What is wrong?” my Shield repeated slowly. “Iggy couldn’t find anything wrong with you. Is it the heat?”

I blinked slowly before flicking my gaze beyond my Shield. We were in a car garage with the Regalia and a familiar looking old man leaning under the hood. The memories slowly came back to me. “What’s today’s date?” I asked, once again forgetting I’d been asked some questions.

Gladio shifted so he was more comfortable kneeling on one knee, letting me keep his hand. “The third of September. Noct, what happened? What is wrong?”

The third of September. Insomnia was invaded and fell on the fifth.

The invisible weight on my shoulders seemed to simultaneously grow and shrink. Everything I had done, Reflection, Providence, had it been for nothing? I thought it would be over.

I buried my face in my hands with a shaky and wet exhale. What kind of joke was this? Was I destined to repeat this insufferable existence until I broke? A different kind of immortality than Ardyn’s, but punishing all the same. Even just the thought of doing it all over again, losing everything I loved to fix a mistake the Gods made, drew a breathy sob to my lips.

No. No, I wouldn’t do it again!

I rushed to my feet, ignoring Gladio’s bracing hands and alarmed voice as I peered through some windows and gauged the time of day from the sun. It was getting on into the evening, meaning I had one day to get back to Insomnia and stop the invasion from happening and deal with Ardyn once more. I wouldn’t let him play his games this time. This time my fate and his fate were in my own hands. I would stop him before he ripped everything I cared about from me. If Providence had to happen again, so be it. But Insomnia wouldn’t fall, my dad would live, Luna would live. They would all live and prosper.

I swore it, glaring through the astral planes to where I could feel Bahamut resting and waiting for me to call him. I swore I would save everyone this time. No one would suffer and sacrifice themselves for me.

“Noct!” My gaze jumped back to Gladio, who was looking even more worried as he forced me to look at him. “Noct, answer me. What. Is. Wrong?”

I felt my lips quirk into a smile. A slightly hysterical laugh escaped me. “Wrong?” I repeated quietly. “Nothing is wrong. Things are…good. Yeah, good. If a little crunched for time.”

My Shield let out an exasperated breath and looked at me in confusion. “What are you going on about? I asked why you suddenly collapsed today.”

“Oh.” I blinked before squeezing his wrist one more time and returning it, sitting up straight on my own now that I’d found my equilibrium. He grunted as he rose from his kneel and moved to sit in another chair. “I collapsed…” because I came back in time instead of fading into oblivion and that’s a lot to deal with. I shook my head at the absurdity of the situation and lifted a hand to hide a smile as I looked away. This was crazy. This was insane. This was…everything. I took a deep breath and schooled my expression again. “We’re in Hammerhead, right? The Regalia broke down and Cid and Cindy are fixing her.”

Gladio relaxed back into the chair. “Well, at least you remember that, though how’d you know about Cid and Cindy?”

“And the Regalia won’t be fixed until tonight.” I quickly did the math in my head. It would take a good day and a half to get back to Insomnia, but if we drove through the night and sped, we could get there by early morning on the day of the invasion or even the night before. I could call ahead and warn my dad about it, but he already knew about the coming invasion. Hence why I was sent away. Plus who would believe the Prince raving about an invasion he had no business knowing about? No, I needed to be there in person to either convince my dad in person or take the reigns over the Crownsguard and Kingsglaive.

Insomnia would not fall. I would not let Niflheim deal that devastating blow. I would not let the world fall to darkness once more.

“Eos to Prince Noctis. Are you there?” I jerked my head up and looked up at the source of the voice. Gladio was watching me carefully. “Where are you, Noct? You’re unfocused.”

“Sorry,” I murmured before standing up and stretching my arms above my head. “Just a lot on my mind.” I relaxed once more and rocked on my heels. “Where’s Ignis and Prompto?”

“Out clearing a monster infestation so we can get a better deal on the Regalia’s repairs.”

I nodded. “Right.” I then moved over to the garage door and out into the blinding light. My vision adjusted after a few seconds and I took a deep breath of the warm clean air, closing my eyes and turning to face the sun to bask in it. I could feel the cleanliness in the air around me, light and free of the cloying presence of darkness that choked me after I was freed from my ten-year prison. I could feel a weight lifting off my shoulders just as I could feel a new one settling on them.

There was a lot to do in a short amount of time, but I was ready to do so. I could feel the presences of the Astral beings looming in the back of my mind. Shiva’s kind and chilled touch flickered next to Ramuh’s indifferent but nearby crackling presence. Behind them was Titan’s looming strong presence. Leviathan was as haughty as ever, but she wasn’t terribly far off, sitting next to the silent and near-invisible Bahamut. The farthest was Ifrit, who felt like he didn’t want to be a part of this covenant, which made sense given how much of a fight he put up. Leviathan put up a big fight too, but she seemed accepting of me at least.

My connection to the crystal was that of just before I died instead of the finicky connection I fought to maintain when I was twenty. The spot in my heart that connected to the crystal was one wide and steady, pulsing with the planet’s soul that resided within the crystal. Looking back on it now, it wasn’t the crystal giving me a hard time when I was twenty and struggling to keep my magic, but it was me and my own character at the time that kept me from synching with the planet’s soul. Now, having spent ten years in the over-hyped rock, my connection to it was stronger than ever. Magic pulsed through my body easily, fluidly.

And at my fingertips, the weapons of the Kings of Lucii buzzed, thrumming with energy and almost a mind of their own. They just waited for me to pluck the threads of magic in the air and materialize, ready to defend, attack, and divert. Without the kings here to take control of them and in turn take my life so the prophecy could be fulfilled, I could feel the weapons’ quiet eagerness to serve once more. My lips quirked in a quiet smile. Once a servant to the people, always a servant to the people.

“Noct?” I let out a long breath and opened my eyes once more to regard Gladio. The large warrior was regarding me warily. “You’re acting really weird. Why don’t we go sit down and wait for Iggy and Prom?”

I hummed and considered it before feeling another wave of warmth crawl over my skin from the sun. “Sure, but let’s find a place out here. I don’t feel like going inside just yet.”

Gladio continued looking at me for another long moment before nodding and turning to lead the way over behind the garage and diner. There were a couple large rocks laying around and Gladio paused, waiting for me to pick a place now that he’d picked a general area. I walked past him, brushing my arm against his, and plopped down on a good-sized rock, deliberately leaving the more chair-like rock for my friend. I shifted until my back was pressed to the majority of the sun-warmed rock and linked my fingers behind my head, squinting my eyes up at the clear blue skies.

Gladio gave an amused huff. “How are you comfortable like that?”

I felt my lips quirk in response to his amusement but tried to keep to the surly and apathetic personality I’d had over a decade ago. “The rock is warm,” I mumbled, closing my eyes fully as the light began to hurt them.

“You’re cold in this weather? Jeez. I’m not really wearing a shirt and I’m sweating.” My only answer was a smug smile.

We settled into silence, Gladio probably thinking about what was going on with me while I thought about how the next two days were going to go.

First off was that I needed to tell them about how I’d apparently traveled back over a decade in time. The thought alone made my heart speed up because I knew how crazy and ludicrous it sounded, but I needed them with me. I couldn’t do this without them. Not after everything we’d been through. Or, at least, everything I’d been through with them. Gods, it was so weird to think that my friends with me currently weren’t the same ones I’d told to walk tall what felt like only hours ago. These weren’t my friends who’d been through hell and back with me, who’d fought at my back, who’d I’d patched up and let them patch me up as well.

I frowned as a thought occurred to me. They weren’t as strong as me right now. Granted, I doubted there was more than a handful of people who could fight me at the moment, but, if I remembered right, we as a group struggled with slightly-above-average monsters. Actually…

My eyes popped open and I sat up, looking around as I tracked the path we’d made the first time we’d stopped in Hammerhead and took care of an infestation problem. At the end of the hunt, we’d been asked to take care of a large beast. I squinted as I struggled to remember. It was a big thing with two horns and a bad temper, but it hadn’t been a Dualhorn at that point. The Scourge had changed it into something of a problem. If Ignis and Prompto were to take that thing on by themselves, without the heavy hits Gladio and I provided…

“We’re going for a run,” I announced, standing up and startling Gladio, who’d been scoping out the surroundings. He looked up at me in surprise as I moved past him and broke into a jog. “Come on!”

“What is going on with you?!” my Shield shouted, sounding thorough exasperated even as his footsteps pounded to catch up with me. “You never want to exercise!”

I rolled my eyes and tsked before picking up the pace even more. Just like the other times I’d traveled with Umbra my strength remained the same and so did my stamina, though I knew if I was the me from this time I would be struggling. Just goes to show how far I’ve come.

I knew the general direction the beast and was soon able to pick out the crack in the elevated rocks that served as an entrance to the gorge we’d fought in so many years ago.

Gladio asked once where we were going, but after getting a noncommittal answer he seemed to resign himself to my sudden weirdness and evasiveness. I think he muttered something about Ignis and I didn’t blame him. Ignis had this knack for pinning me down and having the patience to keep badgering me for answers. He was always the go-to person when I had been difficult in the past.

The memories brought a smile to my face, one that grew when I realized I wouldn’t have to part with Ignis or anyone. There was a chance that I could save them all.

I slowed my pace down as we approached the small valley settled in a bowl of towering rocks and I took a moment to bend over and catch my breath. Gladio smacked a hand on my back and nearly sent me toppling over. “Told you that you should exercise more. Wouldn’t be so out of breath then.”

I was glad my face was red from the exertion to hide my blush. I’d forgotten how much more physically fit I’d gotten in all the work we’d done following the fall of Lucis. It was embarrassing to be this out of breath after a short jog. “Yeah, I know. I’ll fix that later.” That earned me another incredulous look, which I ignored as I moved closer to the crack in the rocks, dropping down into a crouch when I heard distant heavy steps. I peered around the rock and sure enough the familiar monster was milling around the short grass in the gorge, shadows gently floating off its hide and a sullen red glowing from its two horns. At the sight of it, I was able to recall the name of it: the Bloodhorn.

My eyes flicked around, but I saw no signs of Ignis and Prompto. I sat back with a frown. Did they have trouble dealing with the packs of Reapertails or Sabertusks? I was about to glance over my shoulder in the direction of some wooden houses I knew we’d passed through at the time when Gladio leaned over me and stiffened at the sight of the Bloodhorn.

“Gods above, that is one big ugly,” he murmured, thankfully catching onto my body language and remaining quiet. “We should probably get out of here before it notices us.”

I raised an eyebrow at that and peered up at the older man. “You want to run away from a fight?”

Gladio scowled down at me. “Of course not. I’m just not sure I can protect you and take on that thing at the same time. That beast alone is a handful and a half. If Prompto and Ignis were here, maybe, but just you and I, no.”

I turned back and regarded the monster. It was nothing but a pest in my eyes. Weak. A few hits and it’d be finished, but, if I remembered back I could recall feeling daunted by this large creature. A snort of amusement left me. If only I’d known then I’d be taking on the Astrals. I’d have probably laughed at the suggestion.

“What? You think you can take that on?” Gladio asked, his tone telling me how he doubted me.

I had to repress my smirk. It wasn’t often at all that I could lord something like strength over Gladio. Actually, I don’t think I’ve ever been able to do that. And it was so tempting to do so. Instead, I shook my head and threw a thumb over my shoulder. “No, I was laughing because here comes Ignis and Prompto now.”

“Huh?” The giant man turned to look behind him. “Well, that…that’s actually really convenient.” Dark brown eyes narrowed on me and I had to resist the urge to squirm like a child under that expectant look. “Really, really convenient. Why did you choose to suddenly run here of all places?”

I shrugged before stiffening at Prompto’s shout. “Noct! You’re awake!”

I faced the exuberant blond, free of faded, pale skin and facial hair and looking so, so young and happy and held a finger up to my lips. The gunman skidded to a halt at my signal and went on wary alert, following my gesture around the rock where the Bloodhorn sat out of sight.

Ignis approached me with more reservation and dropped to a knee next to my crouching form. “How are you feeling, your Highness? Are you sure you should be out here?” Green eyes flicked up to Gladio at the last question and the warrior held up his hands, shaking his head.

“Hey, don’t look at me. Prince Noctis suddenly decided he wanted to go on a run. He led us here. Straight here.” Another narrowed look, which I refused to meet.

“I’m fine, Ignis,” I assured the man and gods it felt so nostalgic to tell my advisor that line I’d repeated so often over the years. I couldn’t resist smiling and tried to duck my head to hide it. “Guess I was dehydrated or something.”

The man shifted uneasily. “In that case, you should be resting and drinking plenty of water, which I see you didn’t bring on your…run.”

Prompto’s despaired groan saved me from having to say anything more. The blond was leaning around the rock and looking over the Bloodhorn. “He said it was a puppy,” Prompto muttered. “A puppy. Not a freaking Behemoth.”

Ignis stiffened. “We’re tracking a Behemoth?!” he hissed, moving quickly to Prompto’s side. I took the opportunity to stand and dust my knees off. Ignis suddenly relaxed and breathed a sigh of relief. “Oh, thank Eos. This must be that mutant Dualhorn we saw the poster for. Still a problem, but definitely not a Behemoth.” My thoughts went back to Deadeye at the mention of the beast type. Now, he’d been difficult to bring down. Exploding barrels and fire everywhere. It hadn’t been our best hunt. Ignis turned back to Gladio and I. “Well, I suppose it is a good thing you went on a run. I doubt Prompto and I would’ve been able to take care of this beast on our own.”

“Yeah,” Gladio murmured and I could feel his eyes boring into my back. “Convenient.” I wondered how long it would take until Gladio either pinned me down or ratted me out to Ignis. He was never the most patient, but, then again, neither was I.

“Then let’s take care of the problem and get back to the garage,” I offered, feeling the time slipping away. I knew there was nothing I could do to speed along the Regalia’s repairs, but I still wanted to leave as soon as possible. “Before it gets dark,” I tacked on at the end.

The trio seemed to hesitate as one and I knew they were thinking the same thing. “Are you sure you’re okay to fight, Noct?” Prompto asked. “You were out like a light not too long ago.”

I nodded firmly and lifted my chin. “Yeah, I’m good. This won’t be a problem.”

They still shifted uneasily and I waited for them to speak up. Ignis broke first, adjusting his glasses. “If I may, your Highness. Why don’t you remain in the back as support? That way there is no chance of a relapse or further complication. I still have not figured out what happened and I do not think it is dehydration.” His keen green eyes looked me over, as if he was trying to find the source of my faint.

I shrugged. “Sure. I can stick to long-range and warp-strikes, acting as a distraction. Gladio can be the brunt of the attacks while you and Prompto aim for the weak points.” They all froze and stared at me with wide eyes as they picked up on a change I’d purposely allowed through. Never once when I was twenty did I take a moment and plan things out. It had almost always been “Plow through them”. I was much too partial to a frontal assault, but thanks to all the battles and fights we’d been through, coordinating and working with each other had gotten through even my thick skull.

I slipped past Ignis and Prompto and into the open. “Are you coming?” I called as I strolled casually into the gorge. The Bloodhorn took immediate notice of me and huffed, stomping its huge feet. A cute threat display. The Imperial’s rogue axe men had scared me more.

I didn’t pause or slow down as I walked straight for the beast, listening as my friends scrambled to catch up with me. Gladio blew past me as the Bloodhorn trumpeted and charged us. His great sword cutting a deep gash in the beast’s shoulder and sending it crashing onto its side.

“Alright!” Prompto cheered. “Show it who’s boss, Gladio!” The cheery gunner skipped to my side, dragging me to a halt when Ignis suddenly appeared in front of us.

“Be careful! It’s not over!” he shouted as he called his dual knives to hand, facing the rising Bloodhorn. Prompto’s gun materialized in his hand and he pushed me back, taking up the job as my bodyguard.

Boring.

I watched as Gladio moved in for another hard strike and called my engine blade into hand, ignoring my ancestors’ weapons that pulsed and called louder in response to the battle. It would really freak out my brothers if I suddenly fought with a new and strange weapon I had no reason for having. Prompto and Ignis were moving to flank the Bloodhorn, using Gladio as a distraction, and I took the opportunity to throw my blade up into the air above the beast before warping to it a second later. I shouted as I flipped, falling and using gravity and my own strength to land and hard blow on the animal.

To my surprise, the Bloodhorn completely collapsed under my attack, stout legs giving out under the force. With the animal vulnerable, I didn’t waste the opportunity to deal even more damage to its hard skin.

This fight was significantly shorter than I remember The beast had no chance as Gladio and I practically played catch with the lumbering beast while Ignis and Prompto snuck in hits to its weak points. I gave a satisfied sigh as the Bloodhorn fell for the last time and began to dissolve into ashy shadows. It was habit that had me moving to where it had lain but a moment ago, eyes scanning for anything the beast might’ve dropped. There wasn’t much, but I did find a bit of its horn. I held it up to the light and appraised it. It could be worth a couple hundred gil at the very least, especially since it wasn’t cracked or marred in anyway. A clean cut. It would also serve as proof for a bounty if there was one on the Bloodhorn.

I was pocketing the treasure when a steely hand clamped down on my shoulder, spinning me around roughly. I stared up in surprise at my looming Shield, who looked very angry. “What the hell was that, Noctis?! I’ve never seen you fight like that and you were nowhere near as strong as that yesterday. What the hell is going on? You collapse not even six hours ago and wake up acting weird and out of character and then you go pulling stunts like that?” I clenched my teeth against rattling as I was shaken. “Are you even Prince Noctis?!”

“Gladio!” Ignis shouted, suddenly there and forcing the warrior to let me go. “That’s enough!”

“Enough?!” Gladio repeated in disbelief. He jabbed a finger in my direction. “I’ve had enough with this stranger pretending to be my Prince!” I swallowed at the glare directed at me and felt all previous happiness and elation at having another chance evaporate.

Prompto moved over to my side, warily watching the arguing Ignis and Gladiolus. “You okay, Noct?”

I nodded and looked away. “Yeah. I’m fine.”

Prompto shifted uncomfortably. “You know, you were fighting differently. Where’d you learn all those moves? Why were you hiding them from us?”

“I wasn’t hiding them,” I argued quietly, shaking my head. “I didn’t even know them yesterday.” Well, yesterday in this timeline.

Prompto looked at me funny. “But those all looked like you’d been doing them for a long time. Really smooth and badass like. You couldn’t have just learned those.”

I nodded. “You’re right. I couldn’t. And I didn’t.” I glanced up at the sky and gauged the time. “Come on. We should head back to the garage.” I blinked as a thought occurred to me. “You may want to get your camera out. We’re going to have a Hurricane swoop down on us.” The blond’s steps stuttered before hurrying to come even to my side.

“Oookay,” he drawled out uncertainly. I felt more than saw him look over his shoulder at where Ignis and Gladio were still arguing.

“They’ll catch up,” I assured him. “They know where we’re going.”

“You’re acting funny too,” Prompto murmured.

I sighed before leaning to the side enough to bump my shoulder with his. “Sorry. I don’t mean to worry you guys. I’m still trying to wrap my head around all this. I’ll explain once we’re back at the garage.”

“Eh, it’s alright, Noct,” my friend drawled, his cheerfulness coming back. “If you didn’t worry us, then we’d know something was definitely wrong.”

I gave him a sidelong smile. “So I guess I’m doing that right at least.”

“Oh, yeah. You’re right on course for giving Iggy and Gladio gray hairs.”

“But not you.”

“Pfft. I’m right there with you giving them gray hairs.”

I chuckled and bumped into him again, practically floating in happiness at our banter. There hadn’t been a lot of time between my return and then moving through Lucis and what time there was it wasn’t spent on laughs and jokes. Hearing Prompto’s humor and laugh just made it all sink in that much more. I was here and they were here with me.

Prompto bumped me back, which I had to retaliate again because royalty always got the last word. The blond grinned and I saw the challenge flash in his eyes before he moved to shove me back. I stepped out of the way just in time and took off running, smirking over my shoulder as Prompto yelled at me to stop running and get back there. That led to an entirely immature and impromptu game of tag because even though Prompto was the fastest in the group I could catch even with him in short sprints.

It felt so good. Running, feet pounding in the ground with no fear or worry in my heart but only elation and amusement, smile so wide my cheeks hurt a bit. I was on cloud nine.

It was in the middle of me lunging for Prompto that a dark shadow descended over us, a sharp animal cry our only warning. It was instinct more than recognition that had me changing my lunge into a tackle as shock and fear crossed Prompto’s face, taking the gunner to the ground and shielding him.

“Holy _shit!_ ” Prompto shouted over the harsh wind gust and piercing bird cry. “Th-that’s a Hurricane! An actual Hurricane!” I relaxed as the situation finally registered and sat back off Prompto, though he didn’t seem to notice, too busy scrambling for his camera and aiming for a picture. I could’ve been watching the rare beast flying across the sky, but I was more amused by the intense focus on Prompto’s face as he snapped pictures. He hadn’t changed at all. “That thing is like half-bird, half-storm, half-airship,” the gunner exclaimed in awe, finally lowering his camera when the animal had flown too far away for any possible picture.

I nodded in agreement before scooting over to look at his camera screen and at the pictures. “It’s really cool.” I reached over and flicked the settings to go to camera roll, thumbing through his rapid shots.

“Hey! How’d you know it was going to be here? Or that it’d try and kill us?”

“Secret.” I was impressed by Prompto’s speed with a camera. He’d gotten some pretty up-close pictures in the short span of seconds available.

“Noct! Can you see the future?”

I snorted. “No.” Coming from the future and seeing the future were two different things.

Thin, limber fingers circled my bicep and shook me, Prompto swaying dramatically with his own pushes. “Noct!” he whined. “Tell me!”

I smirked. “Secret.”

He made to tackle me and pin me down, but I somehow managed to wiggle free and restart our chase game.

By the time Ignis and Gladio caught up Prompto and I were collapsed in a panting pile by the rocks Gladio and I had sat on a little while ago. We’d given up mid wrestling match and were tangled together. I wasn’t sure how I was going to get free without having to break a joint or two.

I heard the snap of a picture being taken and opened an eye to see Ignis lowering his phone. He sniffed disdainfully as he looked Prompto and I over critically, but I saw the gleam of amusement behind his glasses. “Positively filthy. I could mistake the pair of you for unruly children the way you are now.” Prompto and I just grinned and refused to move.

I heard Gladio grunt and shuffle his feet, probably choosing to remain standing so he could be on guard. Ignis settled on a rock and before a silence could start clinging to the air Prompto poked a finger at my ribs, making me snort to cover up a yelp. “So, what’s the secret?” the blond asked cheerily, getting his words in before I could retaliate.

“Is this the secret that’s going to explain why you’re acting so weird?” my Shield grumbled and I gave a quiet sigh.

“Yeah, I guess,” I answered as I phased through Prompto, standing up to dust off my clothes. I was stalling and I knew it, but even though I knew I had to tell them I didn’t know how to let alone how to go about stopping the fall of Lucis. Yeah, I had a general idea, but I’d never learned the finer details of how everything happened that day other than my dad had been killed, the crystal stolen, and Insomnia gutted like a fish.

I grimaced at my description clouding my love for fishing.

It was all crazy, but that didn’t make it any less real.

I suppose that’s what it came down to in the end.

“Out with it.”

I froze at those words and for a very long moment I was back there.

A fire crackled warmly and strongly not far from me, holding the pressing darkness at bay. Glinting gray glasses reflected the fire to my left, sunny golden hair glowed in the light, and strong arms ready to fight and protect to the end shadowed by the fire. There was a tension in the air. I couldn’t bring myself to look at them, knowing that if I did I’d lose the fight with the burning behind my eyes. So many words left unsaid hang between us and it’d take an eternity before I felt like I’d said and expressed every feeling and thought I had for the three most precious people in my life and they all caught in my throat, choking me.

Already I was losing the fight with the tears in my eyes, knowing what was to come next. Knowing this…this was the last time I’d sit by the fire with them. This was the last time we’d be brothers instead of comrades or prince and retinue.

It hurt worse than any wound, physical, emotional, or mental, that I’d ever had before.

“It’s…more than I can take.”

“Noct?”

I let out a shaky breath as the darkness faded into light not from the fire, but from the actual sun. The sun that still hovered in the sky.

A hand carefully touched my shoulder and I turned blindly to see Ignis looking at me worriedly over his glasses, green seeing eyes sharper than I remember. “Your Highness, what is wrong?” His eyes flicked down to my cheeks where I could feel tear tracks, but I found I couldn’t care about that.

“This is going to sound crazy,” I murmured, taking a moment to memorize Ignis’ irises. He had flecks of hazel in them. “This is going to sound ridiculously crazy, but it’s true.”

Ignis gave a slow nod before retreating back, sensing the gravity of my coming words. Prompto and Gladio sat silent and watchful as Ignis sat down.

I took it all as a wordless signal of readiness and blinked the last of my tears out of my eyes. “I…” Where to start. Beginning? The end? Every story starts at the beginning and finishes at the end. It’s been that way for millennia. It might work for me. I took a deep breath.

“Eleven years ago, I was asked by my dad to help him solidify a peace treaty with a country we’d been fighting against ever since I was born. He asked me to marry a lady from a nearby country that was occupied by our enemy and I agreed. So he sent me away from our kingdom to Altissia to be wed, accompanied only by my advisor, my shield, and my best friend. Eleven years, two months, and nine days ago, while I was having fun with my friends, my brothers, my dad was killed, my kingdom had fallen, and my crystal was stolen.” I looked up from the ground to my three brothers. “It was the beginning of a long fall to the ruin of the planet. Of everything.”

Gladio was shaking his head, eyes narrowed as he watched me. “Wait,” he said slowly. “Wait. Wait. Wait. You’re talking about this as if it’s already happened.”

“Yeah,” Prompto agreed. “Insomnia was still standing when we left two days ago. The king still alive and the crystal still protecting Insomnia.”

I raised a hand and tapped my chest. “To me, it’s already happened. I lived in a time that hasn’t happened yet. I…” I snorted and shook my head. “I came from the future. I don’t know how and I don’t know why though. I was told and I completely believed that I was supposed to be dead. That I was supposed to be in oblivion, but…” I shrugged. “After I died, I somehow…woke up here. That’s what my collapse was earlier. That was me coming back to this time and…” I shook my head and shrugged.

Ignis tilted his head to the side. “Highness, are you sure this was not just a vivid dream? Something brought on by the heat or even the crystal?”

I shook my head. “It’s not. I _know_ it’s not. I…” I bit my lip and looked away. What could I do or say to prove to them what I said was the truth. Yes, there was the Hurricane earlier that I warned Prompto would happen and I could make a case that I led Gladio to that gorge because I knew Prompto and Ignis would end up there, but precognitive abilities and spells weren’t unheard of in the history of Lucii kings. It was short-term sight into the future that had severe drawbacks and didn’t see past more than a day into the future.

A buzzing at my fingertips drew my attention and I glanced down at my hand even though nothing was there. The thread of magic unseen hummed, strummed by the ethereal weapons of the kings passed. A whisper ghosted past my ear, the tranquil voice of the Wise King coming from his sword, offering advice and council. And an answer.

Of course. How could I have forgotten? I did bring several somethings back with me.

It took a moment of focus, pulling at all the magic threads at once, and then they burst into existence. The astral weapons formed a circle around me, spinning and twirling serenely and my eyes fell for a moment on the trident before I forced them past to my stunned and confused brothers.

Ignis adjusted his glasses. “My word. Is…Is that the Swords of the Wanderer? The Axe of the Conqueror? _The Shield of the Just?_ ” I couldn’t help but feel a little amusement at Ignis nearly hyperventilating as he identified the weapons I held.

Prompto looked wildly between the tall man and me. “What? What’s going on?”

“This is my armiger,” I explained. “Part of my quest to regain my kingdom and bring Light back to the world involved receiving the weapons of the Kings of Lucii so we could push back the Darkness.”

Gladio frowned and seemed to follow one weapon in particular with his gaze. “Is that the King’s sword?”

I followed his line of sight and found my dad’s sword moving through the air. Deep sadness and warmth welled up in my chest as I reached out, grabbing the blade. Its ghostly appearance vanished and was replaced by a whole and physical blade. I traced my eyes over its design. “The Sword of the Father. Ravus had it for a while after…after dad was killed. I took it after I found his body. It was the last one to join my armiger.” I let it move back into its place in the circle before facing forward. “I can summon the Six as well if you want more proof, though Ifrit might be a little hard to convince.” As if hearing my words, the Infernian’s presence gave a hotter flare, irritation humming through him.

Ignis paled. “The Six?” he whispered. I nodded and he leaned down to put his head in his hands. “Oh, dear.”

“Wait, are you serious?” Prompto demanded and even Gladio looked floored. My best friend pointed at me with a shaky finger. “You…you literally have our _gods_ at your beck and call.”

I grimaced. “Not really. We formed a covenant thanks to Luna,” I explained, breath catching in my throat as I touched on that still-open and festering wound. I lifted a hand to my chest to help check my breathing, looking away as my eyes burned. “I can call upon them to fight, but they can fight my summons if they want to. At that point it becomes a battle of wills. Some are kinder than others., Ramuh, Shiva, and Titan are pretty cool. Bahamut and Leviathan are a bit distant and cold and Ifrit would rather see me dead than answer my call, but…” I shrugged. “He lost. The covenant was formed.” It’d been a ridiculously long and hard fight, but it had been necessary for multiple reasons.

Prompto seemed to join Ignis is trying to remember how to breathe and process my words.

Gladio was staring at me unblinkingly. “There’s no way you could’ve done that recently. At no point in all the time I’ve known you, you couldn’t have gotten all those blades from the royal tombs or convinced the gods to make friends. There’s no way.”

“Not unless I did so in a time you can’t remember because it hasn’t happened yet. For you anyway,” I argued simply before sighing. “Look, I don’t know what more you want from me. I thought this would be enough to convince you.”

Gladio held up a staying hand. “Oh, I’m convinced, Noct. I’m just…” The giant man shook his head. “If you’re from the future, how old are you?”

I squinted and tried doing the math. “Uh…31 or 32. I don’t know exactly when I came out of my imprisonment. Only that ten years had passed.”

“Imprisonment?” my Shield repeated darkly, hands fisting. “For _ten years?_ ” Even Ignis and Prompto looked up from their mini panic attacks in alarm.

I waved a hand dismissively. “Bahamut-crystal-King-of-Light thing. Don’t worry about it. I can explain things better later, but the thing is that we need to get back to Insomnia right now. Niflheim will launch an attack that will destroy Insomnia on the day of the treaty signing. We need to stop that from happening.”

My three brothers sharpened at the news and direction I was pointing us in, changing gears now that I was giving orders and objectives.

Ignis adjusted his glasses and got up to start pacing. “Will preventing the fall of Insomnia keep…the future you witnessed from happening?”

I pursed my lips and crossed my arms unhappily. “It will be a step in the right direction. As of right now, Lucis is the only country capable of holding Niflheim back with our crystal and the Kingsglaive. If Lucis were to fall, Niflheim would eventually have their way and conquer the whole world even if I happen to survive.”

“No offense, Prince,” Gladio rumbled, resting his elbows on his knees. “But Lucis isn’t even doing very well on that front. I don’t know if you remember it, but the Kingsglaive recently got their asses handed to them by one of the Nifs’ daemons. I think that’s why the King agreed to the peace treaty. We just…can’t fight against something like that.”

I frowned, trying to recall any mention of such a battle. Maybe there was a hint of a memory, a newscast covering the lost battle and an apathetic regard of the event, or maybe I was just building a memory based on Gladiolus’ words. “I can take it down,” I offered, shrugging. “Ifrit may even be down for that kind of fight. If he can get off his lazy ass.” I got a pulse of anger and waved away imaginary smoke. We were not endearing ourselves to each other. Titan would always be happy to fight and Bahamut might even be persuaded to be summoned if I spun it as protecting all of Insomnia.

“Do you really think the King would let you fight that thing?” Prompto asked, propping an elbow on his knee and remaining sitting on the ground. “It looked pretty big on TV and if the ‘Glaive can’t handle it…”

Ignis nodded. “It is suicide for Lucis to risk the heir apparent. Especially with the King so late in his years.” My advisor grimaced. “Apologies, Highness.”

I waved it away. “It’s the truth. Probably another reason why dad agreed to the treaty. But, in the end, we’re not going to have a choice. Because even if we keep the Nifs out of Insomnia and take down their giant daemon, the war will still be going on. At that point, most of my knowledge of the future will be useless, but I still know how to fight and how to put Niflheim in a compromising position.” I consciously kept myself from looking in Prompto’s direction, knowing it was better he learned the truth about his origins from me than from Ardyn. A conversation for a later time. I cleared my throat, “And our real problem isn’t even Niflheim. It’s the Chancellor, Ardyn Izunia. He’s the one behind everything. The war, the daemons, the eternal night.”

I shook my head, still baffled how one being could be so dark and feel justified in his actions. So many people died because of him. And yet, if his story was true, he was also responsible for saving millions more. I gave a mirthless laugh. Life had a strange way of restoring balance.

“Ardyn Izunia?” Ignis repeated in confusion, pausing in his pacing. “I don’t understand, what does he have to do with anything.”

I shook my head. “I’ll explain everything when we’re back in Insomnia with my dad. He’ll want to hear all this too.”

“Right. Of course.”

“Why can’t you just call the king?” Prompto questioned.

I shook my head. “This story is crazy enough that I don’t want to tell it without being there to offer proof. Between all of us and my dad, we should be able to come up with a suitable plan to keep Insomnia safe, the king alive, and the crystal in our possession. After that…” I blew out a breath. “Well, I’ll have to end Ardyn again and push Niflheim back until we have a peace or no opposition left. Only then will this all be over.”

I looked over at the setting sun and felt both happy, worried, and sad at the sight of it. Light and the sun will always make me feel safe and just a taste of that eternal night had me paranoid that this would be the last setting sun to ever come. I hadn’t been able to live long enough to see the sun rise again after battling Ardyn. I didn’t even know if my brothers had lived at all to see and feel the sun’s light and warmth. Also, looking over such a distance stirred the words in my heart I still held close. I could still hear her voice, lilting and soft, but no less certain and firm than how she always was.

_“When the world falls down around you, and hope is lost, when you find yourself alone amid a lightless place, look to the distance. Know that I am there and that I watch over you always.”_

I blinked and felt tears slip down my cheeks, but I refused to wipe them away or look away from the setting sun. “Luna,” I murmured. “She’s…alive here, isn’t she?”

There was a pause before a shuffle as Prompto got to his feet. “Yeah, Noct. She’s alive.”

My lips curled into a faint smile. “That’s…that’s good.”

It was another notable pause that I let draw out, using the time to try and control myself once more. “Hey, Noct?” Prompto called quietly. “How…How bad did things get? In your future?”

My smile disappeared altogether and more tears streamed down my face. I opened my mouth, intending to answer, but found the words locking up in my throat. Shaking my head, I turned to face them once more, taking in their young and unmarred faces, fresh and free from years of fighting and fear. Free from all the hurt and grief that had come about. “I...It was so dark. We lost everything. Everything. In the end, there were only a couple hundred survivors in the world. We…We barely made it to Insomnia. I don’t even know if you three were alive when I died. I had to abandon you. I had to abandon everything. I…I don’t even know if the sun rose after that. I don’t know if everything we sacrificed paid off in the end. I don’t know if they’re still _suffering._ ”

I sobbed as large arms suddenly yanked me to a firm chest, a calloused hand slipping around the back of my neck and rubbing my scalp and back soothingly. “It’s okay, Noct,” Gladio murmured. “It’s okay. It’s over. No one is suffering or hurting.”

I hugged him back desperately, the fear of losing him and everything again tearing my heart apart. “I can’t do it again,” I gasped. “I can’t lose everything again. I can’t. I can’t. _I can’t._ "

Another pair of arms wrapped around my back. “You won’t,” came Ignis’ rough voice. “Gods, Noctis, we won’t let any of this happen again. I swear it.”

The last body plastered completely to my back and nuzzled my shoulder. “We’re here. We’re not going anywhere. We’re gonna save everyone, okay? Even you, Noct. No dying this time.”

These three had always been able to calm me down like nothing else. Them and my dad had always had a way of bringing me back from any kind of fit, whether that be depression, anger, or grief, they always somehow got me calm once more. Having all them here, whole and holding me made the weight on my shoulders seem that much lighter, that much easier to deal with.

I breathed their scents in deeply and soaked in their presences, letting the grief wash away until all that was left was sore eyes and a runny nose. I nuzzled my forehead against Gladiolus’ shoulder, sighing. “Gods, I missed you guys so much.” I laughed wetly. “I can actually stay with you all now. I can…I can stay.” For now, I added silently, though I would take any time I could with my brothers.

My Shield gave a quiet chuckle that I felt more than heard. “I don’t know what the hell future-me was thinking, but I’m not leaving you or letting you leave us, Noct. So no worries there.”

“For real!” Prompto practically shouted in my ear, drawing off from the hug. Ignis followed and I stepped back from Gladio, wiping my cheeks off with the heel of my hand. “Honestly, you _died_ , Noct. Not to be insensitive or whatever, but you came back to us after dying. Even I can tell that says something.” His bright blue eyes sparkled with mirth and warmth as he tilted his head meaningfully, though he only gave me the impression of a curious chocobo.

“Perhaps we can best spend the remainder of our wait cleaning up and eating dinner,” Ignis announced and I looked over just in time to see him draw his hand from under his glasses, wiping his own eyes. That made me smile softly, but I didn’t draw further attention to his show of emotion. “There may even be time for a nap. Today has been rather eventful.”

“We’re eating at the diner, right?” Prompto chirped, already walking the short distance to Hammerhead. “’Cause Cindy says they have the best hamburgers ever and I really want to…”

I couldn’t help the smile that came to my face as I watched Ignis, following the blond, listening intently to Prompto despite most of what the blond was saying being nonsensical near-gibberish. Gladio took a few steps to follow before pausing and looking over his shoulder at me. “Are you coming?” he asked.

My smile grew. They had once followed me to the end of the world, waited for me for ten years, and then followed me into hell. The least I could do, is follow them now. “Yeah.”

 

FFXV

 

“I never knew you had it in you, Specs,” I murmured as the Regalia slowed down to approach the guard house positioned inside the western wall. I had scooted over to the middle seat as soon as my city’s walls had come into view a half hour ago. Originally, I had leaned between Prompto and Ignis to peer out the windshield, but Ignis seemed to understand what I was trying to do and folded back the car canopy despite the chilling evening air.

Now, I was leaning back and staring up at the looming wall that surrounded Insomnia, glittering and glowing with the crystal’s shield.

“Had what in me?” my advisor asked, guiding the car smoothly to where the guards were gesturing him to go. He hummed thoughtfully, “There seem to be more guards than when we left.”

“I didn’t know you had it in you to speed,” I answered, throwing a smirk at the back of his head. “I think you even went faster than I would at some points. And of course there’s more guards. Isn’t Iedolas in the city right now? Luna too.” We’d arrived even before I’d thought within our capabilities. I’d driven all through the yesterday, letting the others sleep, before returning the wheel to Ignis the next morning. It was late evening, but not the middle of the night.

“Dad’s probably losing his mind with all the security measures,” Gladio chuckled.

Prompto laughed as well. “Yeah, I would not want to be him. Noct is already hard to keep up with.” I blew a raspberry at him and he stuck his tongue out at me.

“I’m perfectly capable of flouting the rules when acted upon by a big enough urgency,” Ignis tossed back at me before pulling the Regalia to a complete stop and turning to face a heavily armed guard. “Yes, hello. Ignis Scientia, advisor to His Royal Highness, Prince Noctis Lucis Caelum, returning the prince to Insomnia.”

All the soldiers seemed to freeze at the sound of my name before jerking to check the validity of the statement. I gave the captain in charge of the gate a nod and a two-fingered wave. “You mind letting us through?” I asked. If I remembered right, I wasn’t often exposed to the public light because of the war going on.

As prince and heir of the only kingdom standing in Niflheim’s way, I was a huge and tempting target for any Niflheim supporters, enemies of the crown, and would-be bounty hunters. As such, my location was constantly hidden and my face wasn’t typically known or recognizable at first sight. It lent me a certain freedom in moving around. Only those in the citadel could spot me in a crowd and recognize me instantly. It didn’t help that the guards were not expecting me to be trying to get back into the city when all logic said I should already be inside the city.

The captain snapped a quick salute before dropping into a bow, his subordinates quickly following his example. “Your Highness! Of course, please excuse our delay.”

I waved it away. “It’s fine. You’re all doing a fine job. Thank you for your effort and dedication.” They all seemed stunned at my praise, but quickly puffed and flushed a moment later. We were waved through into the long tunnel and I found myself leaning forward once more, trying to get the first glimpse of my city.

“That was decidedly diplomatic of you,” Ignis pointed out.

Prompto nodded. “Yeah, Noct. I thought you hated talking to people.”

I shrugged. “A kind word will let me get my way faster than silence or a mean word,” I explained, thinking back to my discussion and negotiating with the First Secretary of Altissia and even Leviathan.

“Manipulative little punk, aren’t you?” Gladio snorted.

“No,” I corrected absently, focusing on the darker spot at the end of the tunnel. “No, it’s just…” Any further words I had evaporated as we exited the tunnel and finally entered Insomnia.

I gaped and sat back roughly as I gazed up at the glittering towers of metal and steel, illuminated with the ambient lights dotted in periodic locations. Air would not come to me as I gazed up and through the city I’d grown up in, glittering like the night sky and stout like the strongest mountains. So enchanting.

“It’s more beautiful than I remembered,” I breathed, smiling as I was reminded yet again why my city was called Insomnia. Our city was the night and never once did we sleep.

I jumped at the hand that grabbed the back of my shirt and yanked me back. “Sit down before you fall out,” Gladio chided gruffly. I blinked blankly, not having realized I’d stood up in the moving car before the urge to grin suddenly overwhelmed me. My Shield rolled his eyes, but his lips twitched back into a smile. He yanked me towards him and trapped me in a headlock, rubbing a knuckle on my head. “Twenty years old and you still manage to look like a kid in a candy store.”

I yelped when fingers suddenly poked and prodded my side and I flailed a hand at where I knew Prompto was leaning over his seat. “Prom, don’t!” A burst of not-giggles slipped past my lips when the fingers only wiggled more. I bit my tongue and fought to get free.

“Nu-uh, Noct!” my blond friend exclaimed. “We got you now!”

“We’ve got the infamous Prince of Escaping,” Gladio joined in, laughter in his voice. He referred back to my much younger days after Tenebrae where I could and would escape at every opportunity to get out of the citadel, the hills and forests of Tenebrae leaving their mark on me. It was a habit that I had still carried with me on our journey, though I didn’t express it quite as often as I once did. “We’re never letting you go.”

“Guys!” I shouted, twisting my head and leaning back to try and get away from Gladio’s headlock. Another laugh got away from me and I struggled harder. “Guys, seriously! S-Stop already! Ignis! Ignis, help me!”

Even over the wind passing and having my ears thoroughly squished, I caught my advisor’s chuckle. “Don’t forget that his neck is ticklish.”

I gave an indignant shout when Gladio’s dexterous fingers immediately found my sensitive neck, tickling mercilessly.

By the time we arrived at the citadel I was extremely out of breath and took the opportunity to warp out of the Regalia before she even came to a complete stop. I stumbled drunkenly with what I was sure was a stupid grin on my face, a high blush on my cheeks, and my messy hair even messier. One of the servants, a valet, came to an abrupt stop in surprise at my warping suddenly in front of him. I struggled to find my balance and cleared my throat hastily as he sketched a quick bow.

“Hi,” I hurried to say and cutting off his greeting rather rudely. “Sorry, but do you know where my dad is?”

The middle-aged man hesitated for a second before answering. “His Majesty has only just returned from the party a short while ago. I would assume he is in his rooms. It is rather late.”

“Party?” I repeated in confusion, hearing the sounds of the Regalia’s doors opening and closing behind me.

The valet nodded. “Yes, the welcoming party for the Niflheim delegation and Princess Lunafreya.”

“Oh.” That made sense. “Right. Thank you. Excuse me.” With that, I warped to the top of the stairs, leaving only shattered shards of ethereal glass of my spell behind. Vaguely, I could hear my brothers calling out behind me, but my mind was entirely focused on my father.

My father was here. My father was alive.

The thought and the actual belief was only just now starting to sink in as I found myself standing outside his large and ornate doors. I’d apparently warped across the whole citadel if the startled guards were anything to go by. I certainly didn’t remember walking here.

“Leave,” I commanded quietly, hoarsely, with a wave of my hand. The Crownsgaurds hesitated before disappearing from my sight reluctantly. It was suddenly very hard to move as I stood there in front of these familiar doors. I could remember tracing the patterns on them as a child while I waited for my dad to finish getting ready or when I had nightmares after my accident and would often ghost my way here, looking upon these doors as my portal to safety.

Now, it was an impossibility. My dad had died. I’d mourned him for years and, honestly, I was still mourning him even now. It made my head hurt to think that my dad was just behind these doors, but my heart raced, hope and longing urging it to go faster until it was all I could hear. Swallowing harshly in my suddenly dry mouth, I reached a trembling hand out, touching the cold metal of the handle. The fixture gave a faint rattle from my shaking hands as I twisted the knob and watched the door swing inward.

Blindly, I looked over the familiar sitting room that first came into sight as I stepped past the door. A small sound to my right drew my gaze, to where my father used to sit behind his huge, wooden desk and work.

And there, leaning wearily against the desk, papers in one hand and cane in the other, stood my dad.

I felt the world stop as I took him in. Graying hair slightly mused out of his neat style, formal suit undone a bit and without a tie, his knee brace glittering in the low light, and those oh-so bright and knowing blue eyes.

My vision began to blur and my head began to spin as the image of my father, which I was so sure was going to disappear any second, moved. He frowned at me, looking surprised. “Noctis?”

Oh, gods, his voice. I’d forgotten what he sounded like. I’d forgotten that tenor rumble, firm and gentle all at the same time. It was him. It was him.

“Dad,” I gasped, taking a stumbling step when my balance shifted before practically teleporting to him and wrapping my arms around his waist, burying my face in his shoulder. “Dad!” I squeezed tightly, forgetting my strength in this sudden fear that I’d lose him again and swept up in just how much I’d _missed_ him. Under my head, his heart beat strongly, and his arms, though aging and not those of the warrior he used to be, wrapped around my back with more strength than I could ever imagine. I sobbed, breathing in his scent and memorizing his hug again and treasuring it more than anything in the world. “Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Dad, Daddy…”

His breath fanned into my hair as he tucked me even closer, one hand rubbing up and down my back like he used to when I was a child. “Shh,” he whispered. “I am here, my son. I am here. Everything will be alright. Hush, my child.” I gave a sharp keen before falling silent and consuming myself in his entire presence.

My dad had been everything to me. He’d been my strength, my goal, my home, my family. I couldn’t remember my mom—she had died when I’d still been a baby after all—so it had only been my dad and me for as long as I could remember. He held me when I cried and woke up screaming from nightmares, giving me someone to lean on and to tell me it wasn’t the end of the world. I held him when he could no longer take the pressures of being king and losing his wife, sitting in his lap and running my hands through his hair until he fell asleep. Often times I’d scared off people demanding the king’s attention or redirected them to people I knew could help them instead of my dad.

We were each other’s worlds and support and as I grew up and we got back to the kingdom it had been hard to accept this distance that had appeared between us. Even as I child, I’d known my dad had important work to do and a lot of people to take care of, but it didn’t stop the hurt, loneliness, and the small depression I’d gone through as a result. I’d eventually found strength in myself for the first few years until I actually got to be friends with Gladio, Prompto, and then Ignis, finding brothers in all of them.

Still, my dad was my heart. Even if I didn’t realize it at the time, I did everything for him, hoping to make his day easier or make him proud. Yes, there were times I purposely disappointed him in the pursuit of doing what was right and sometimes I did get out of hand and needed disciplining, but there was always that deep untouchable bond between us.

To find out through the paper and over the phone that my dad had died and I hadn’t been there to defend him…It destroyed me. It destroyed everything. It had only begun to heal and mend back together when Luna’s death had shattered everything again.

But to have him here in my arms, holding him as he held me was something I dared not ever dream about.

My head was pounding from the force of my crying when I finally came down from it all.

He was still there. My dad was still here, holding me and whispering soothing words into my hair as he rubbed my back and rocked us side to side. I was more than happy to stay like this forever, but the feeling of water hitting my head caught my attention. It was only then that I realized my dad’s voice was rough with tears and the top of my head was soaked. “Dad?” I croaked, voice rough, as I pulled back a little.

His words tapered off and we put just enough space between us to look at each other. Even in the dim light I could see the tear tracks on his face, his bloodshot eyes, and weary lines. His eyes seemed to be taking me in just as quickly before tightening his arms around me. “Is…” He cleared his throat and I saw more tears gather in his eyes, making mine burn in sympathy because my immortal and strong dad was hurting and crying. “Is it as I hoped?” he finally managed, but only at a whisper. His chin trembled and I choked on a sob. One weathered hand came up to cup my cheek. “Did you…Were you able to fulfil your destiny and…and _come back to me?_ ” I was already nodding before he finished his question and I found myself once again crushed to his chest, his open crying shaking my body. I desperately clawed at his shoulders and back, trying to share his pain. “Thank the gods. Oh, thank the gods and stars above. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you for giving me my son back. Thank you.”

I buried my face in his shoulder, sniffling through my runny nose. “Dad, I’m here. I did it. I’m back.” I coughed up a laugh. “I’m home. I walked tall.” My dad pulled back to look down at me in vague confusion while I offered a shaky smile, so incredibly relieved and satisfied that I could tell this to him in person. It was more than I could ever hope for. “And though it took me a while, I’m ready. I’m ready to fight and protect you, the crystal, and our kingdom.”

The smile he gave me in return, though not as strong as it could be, was blindingly bright. “I know.” A few more tears slid down my cheeks as he leaned in and pressed a kiss to my forehead, rubbing my cheek with his thumb, though this time they were in happiness. “I know, Noctis. And I am so very proud of you. Welcome home.”

I hummed in response before pulling back and wiping at my face, laughing quietly. “Gods, dad. I don’t know how I thought I would meet you again, but I don’t think it involved crying like a baby.”

My dad was much more dignified in cleaning himself up, pulling a handkerchief from a pocket and cleaning his face before licking it and quickly moving to wipe off my face. I spluttered and tried to duck away from it. “No, Noctis, hold still,” my dad ordered firmly, grabbing my chin. “I just got my boy back and I will do as I damn well please. Hold…” He tsked as I wrinkled my nose at him, but smiled nonetheless. “Stubborn child. Hold. Still.” I made a show of rolling my eyes as he wiped away the last of my tears.

“Are you going to blow my nose for me too?” I asked with a raised eyebrow only to laugh as I ducked away when he made to do just that. “I’m kidding. I’m kidding!”

He wrapped me up in a looser hug and I melted into his embrace again, the weight of grief and guilt gone and leaving me feeling dizzyingly light. “I missed you, dad.”

“Though it has not been as long for me as I think it has been for you, I missed you as well, Noctis.”

Oh. That reminded me. I tilted my head back and stared up at him incredulously. “You knew I would come back in time after dying?”

He winced and shook his head. “No. I did not _know_ per se. I had hoped. When you were but a child and marked as the King of Light I researched everything I could on just what that would entail for you. During my research, I came across an old tapestry depicting what I believe the first telling of the King of Light and on it was the prophecy written in the old tongue, but the drawings on it were quite…odd. The front depicted what I had come to know and dread to be your future, but on the back…on the back was the same darkness fought on the front but the outcome was different. Brighter. And the figure that began the fight on the back did not look the same as the one that began the fight on the front. If anything, the figure on the back looked like that of the one that died on the front.” My dad shrugged as told me of his findings. “I will show it to you one day, but I held onto that small impossible hope. And it looks like my hope paid off.”

I nodded and reached around to squeeze his shoulder. “It did. It wasn’t easy the first time around, but I won’t let it happen again.” I heard the sound of footsteps and looked over to the door to see Gladio peering in cautiously, Prompto right behind him. Both of them stiffened as they realized my dad and I saw them and dropped into bows. Ignis did too once he moved around the pair. I looked back up at my dad. “We have a lot to talk about, dad.”

My dad nodded seriously and waved in my brothers. “Close the door behind you. Ignis, could you call the kitchen for some coffee and tea. We’re going to have a late night. Gladio, stoke the fire please. Noctis, be my dear helpful son and help me over to the couch. I seemed to have dropped my cane.” I braced myself readily under his arm as we moved over to the set of couches by the fire, Ignis and Gladio moving to do as they were told and Prompto hurrying over to where he spied my dad’s cane. He sighed as I helped ease him down before chuckling wryly. “My years are catching up to me. I don’t have the energy I once did and can’t move like I once took for granted.” He leveled a stern gaze on me and my brothers. “Do not take your youth for granted. Take that as wisdom from an old man.”

“You’re not that old, dad,” I reminded him as I sat facing him on the low coffee table.

“That is kind of you to say,” my dad chuckled before waving at where I could sense my brothers standing awkwardly. “Please. Sit down. This isn’t a time for ceremony.”

“O-Okay,” Prompto whispered meekly as they moved to sit on the couch opposite my dad. I doubt they thought they’d ever be in this situation.

Before I could think of a way to ease their tension, my dad’s focus fell on me again. “I believe you have a story to tell.”

I straightened my shoulders and nodded. “Yeah, I guess I do. But maybe for another time, dad. For now, I think we should cover the immediate problem. Niflheim’s invasion tomorrow, the crystal’s theft, and Insomnia’s fall.” I watched as shock and then despair drifted across his face at my words and I cocked my head at him. “Why are you surprised? You sent me away because you knew this was coming. Which, by the way, though I can understand from a certain point of view, I’m still pissed about.”

My dad’s eyes narrowed at me and for a second I saw Regis, King of Lucis. “You are the greatest treasure of the kingdom, Noctis. You are the future and the King of Light…” He let his words taper off when I held up a staying hand and smiled gently to take any bite or disrespect out of the gesture.

“I did say I understood, dad. But that doesn’t change the fact of how bad it hurt that you sent me away so you could die,” I explained. “I still haven’t forgiven myself for it or for failing to avenge you.”

My dad looked at me appraisingly before nodding. “I see you grew to be a fine King.”

My smile dropped altogether and I couldn’t fight the depressing and cloying feeling growing in my chest. “Yeah. I guess I did.” I lifted a hand and rubbed at the spot. The same spot where the spirit of my dad had driven his blade through. “Hopefully tomorrow we’ll be able to keep the kingdom I’ll one day rule.”

“And what happens tomorrow?” my dad inquired.

I turned and face my dad and my so-far silent brothers. “I don’t know the details. I was never interested in learning how my home burned or how my dad died, but I know the attack starts at the signing ceremony.”

Ignis nods. “That is the most strategic move,” he murmurs, glancing from his prince to his king. “Remove the governing and leading power from the equation and leave the masses in a panic.”

“But how will they get into the most secure room in the entire kingdom?” Gladio asked lowly. “Most of the Crownsguard has been set to the surrounding area and the Crystal while the ‘Glaive watches the citadel.”

I shifted my weight to one leg. “It was never confirmed to my ears, but it does make a little bit of sense for traitors to be in our midst.” I flicked my eyes to my dad. “You know Iedolas is a big enough coward that he would not risk his own life in an invasion unless he felt he could win no matter what. That implies forces not only from the outside, but from the inside as well. He thinks he has us surrounded.”

My dad nods slowly before sinking back into the couch to rub his face. “But we have no way of knowing who we can trust. How can we deal with a betrayal we know is there but not know from where or when it will come?”

This was actually something I’d already thought about.

“We change things,” I suggested. “The planning for this whole event has been extensive and well-known to the guards. They’ve known for a while where they’re going to be posted and what their job is going to be. With that knowledge, they’ve factored it into their plan for the invasion. If we change all the guard postings, move people to where they weren’t expecting to be, we’ll at least put a small wrench in their plans and cause confusion. Add to the fact that we put as many people we absolutely know we can trust in key positions. Namely, the signing room and the crystal. So who can we trust?” I looked between my dad and my brothers since they had a better connection than me to the citadel staff and guards.

“Clarus can be trusted,” my dad answered instantly, looking meaningfully at Gladiolus. “My Shield since I was a child. He and all my men who will be attending the ceremony with me can be trusted to fight for Lucis. I may be able to suggest a ‘Glaive or two as well.”

Gladio bowed his head under the praise for his dad before crossing his arms. “I would trust my life and Noct’s life in the hands of a few Crownsguards. Cor is one of them and he probably knows a few more. I can give their names and make sure their moved.”

Ignis adjusted his glasses and sighed. “Sadly, my network of contacts extends mostly to advisors and servants. I don’t know many guards.”

Prompto shifted a little and sat on his hands. “I uh…I might be able to help, but you guys might not like the idea.”

Before even I could urge him to go on my dad was nodding at my blond friend. “Any idea is worth considering. What is it?”

Prompto glanced at me uncertainly and I smiled in encouragement. “Well, I know a few guys, you know? From the slums. They don’t have the best records or the best attitudes, but given a chance to fight for Noct they would. They owe him.” I blinked at the memory, remembering when I’d hung out with Prompto after school one day and ran into his old friends. Prompto was right, they weren’t the cleanest or most respectful people around and certainly didn’t like me at first sight, but after I covered for them and made the civil guards back off I’d earned some grudging respect, which led to a few situations in the future where I earned some favors as well.

My dad looked curious, glancing over at me. “They ‘owe’ you?”

I shrugged and shuffled my feet. “Uh…It was totally legal and I never got caught. I swear.”

My dad’s lips twitched ever so slightly. “And just who are ‘they’?”

“Uh…” I cleared my throat and scratched the back of my head. Prompto was looking sheepish as well, shrinking under Gladio’s and Ignis’ combined looks because even they didn’t know about this. “They may or may not be The Runners.”

My dad’s eyebrows disappeared into his hair. “The Runners. As in the weapons smuggler ring the civil guards have been having problems with.”

I nodded before hunching under his disapproving look. “In my defense, this was over fifteen years ago. To me, at least.”

“That does not change the fact that it happened,” my dad rumbled lowly before refocusing on Prompto. “You say they will fight for us. Will they do so knowing they will fight Niflheim forces and on such short notice?”

“Y-yes, sir. I-I mean, Your Majesty. Like I said, they owe Noct. They haven’t paid him back yet. Besides, they aren’t big fans of the Nifs.”

My dad sat back and rubbed his beard in thought and I ran the information over in my head, trying to figure out where to place everyone to create the most defense. “I think we should prioritize the signing ceremony as needing the most attention,” I offered slowly, looking down at my feet. “The Crystal is important to protect the city yes, but with dad and I still alive we can draw magic from it no matter the distance.” I grimaced as I remembered the stupid technology that had cut me off from the crystal and taken my magic away. “Well, we should for now.” My dad looked alarmed at my words and I waved him away. “Anyway, my point is this: it is through us that our forces draw power and magic to fight. If you die, dad, then the Kingsglaive will lose their ability to fight and so will your personal guards. Same with us four.”

“You are suggesting leaving the city defenseless to attack is worth protecting just you and I,” my dad said slowly and I looked at him evenly.

“What would you rather have, you and I alive to lead our people or us dead and Niflheim with the crystal and no one able to oppose them?” He still looked stubborn, so I straightened up in response to his silent challenge. “Dad, after you died, there was no resistance left. The Crownsguard scattered and even though Cor tried to rally them there was nothing they could do and I never even heard another whisper about the Kingsglaive after Insomnia fell. Because of that, I had no backing at all in taking down Niflheim and believe me when I say that when we eventually did it was at great cost to the world and its people. You call me the most precious thing our kingdom has, but you are the sole support of it. If you fall, Insomnia falls. You know this.”

My dad sighed under my vehement words and I saw his jaw tense as he looked away. “So what is it you suggest?” he asked tightly.

“Gladio and Ignis will stay out of sight in the signing room along with two or three trusted Crownsguards or Kingsglaives.” I sent a sharp look to Gladio and Ignis who were preparing to argue with me. They fell silent under my look, allowing me to finish. “Prompto and I will guard the crystal with The Runners and the guards already there. This, at the very least, should keep the King and the crystal safe.”

“Noct, you need to be protected too,” Gladio argued, finally breaking his enforced silence. “None of _this_ ,” he gestured wildly around the room to mean the whole situation, “will be worth anything unless you are alive to lead the future after your pops.”

“I will be fine,” I insisted, lifting my chin. “I’ve fought Niflheim back with all three of you at my side for a long time. I still have the strength I did when I died.”

“Arrogance,” my dad growled, his gaze cutting to mine. “I never took you to be prideful.”

“It’s the truth.”

“Regardless, I will be sending my best ‘Glaive with you,” he announced, gaze daring me to argue. I held my tongue, sensing a compromise. “Nyx Ulric is the best the Kingsglaive has to offer, his warping skills are apparently on par with yours if the stories and reports are to be believed. And he is incredibly loyal if a little headstrong. He is currently assigned to Princess Lunafreya, but as soon as she is delivered to the signing ceremony I will send him to you.”

I cocked an eyebrow. “That is saying a lot about him,” I murmured, reading between the lines. “What did he do to get in trouble?”

“I believe it was to disobey orders and save a friend of his.”

“Ah.” I nodded slowly. “Hero type or morally-firm type?”

My dad shrugged. “I do not know. Are they not related or one in the same?”

“True. Fine. Sounds like a start of a plan.”

“If I may,” Ignis cut in, drawing attention. “If the crystal is a target to begin with, it is very possible Niflheim plans to bring in their air force and reinforcements. Possibly that large daemon the Kingsglaive faced.”

Prompto jigged his leg. “Hoo, boy. Let’s not let that big monster into the city.”

“Niffs do love their air ships,” Gladio agreed.

“Our guards are already spread thin, but I suppose a few extra camera screens wouldn’t hurt to add. Or a regular radar sweep,” my dad suggested.

I nodded easily and shrugged. “Not that hard. If we keep the crystal and the wall up it won’t be a problem, but if it does fall we’re going to be in trouble. Now, I can take on that daemon with my summons, but some help would probably be useful.” I grimaced. “It’s still takes a bit out of me to summon one of them let alone keep them here for a while.”

My dad cocked his head and I followed his gaze down to the ring that sat on his finger. The same ring that had sat on mine for a short time. He then looked up and regarded me carefully. “It may be possible for you to wake the Old Wall.”

I blinked in confusion before rearing back in surprise. “Wait, you mean…”

He nodded and twisted the ring around his finger before pulling it off and holding it out to me. “I cannot do it, but I can still hold the wall in place through my connection with the crystal alone. You may need this tomorrow.”

Numbly, I held out a hand and received the ring that had killed me in the end. It glittered like new, still holding that strange weight that made my body ache. Carefully, I slipped it over my middle finger and inhaled sharply as I felt the world sharpen and freeze. For a split second, I felt the kings of yore in my head, heavy and aged presences stretching my already aching head before lifting and fading into the background.

“ _Welcome back, King of Kings_ ,” one whispered.

As the world sped back up to normal pace I lifted a hand to my pounding temple. It was the same as before and yet different. Before, I had been able to sense Insomnia, dim, empty, lifeless. Now, I felt the life that pulsed through her, I felt the people moving inside her walls, so many and so precious, and I felt the old wall almost invisible under everything, vast and strong like the very foundations of the city just waiting to be called upon. The threads connecting me to them glowed with life, just waiting for me to pluck them.

“Noctis?”

I refocused back on the world to see Ignis coming back to the couches carrying a tray of tea and coffee and all their worried gazes on me. I waved a hand and flexed the hand with the ring on it. “I’m fine,” I assured them. “Just a bit of a shift like last time. So, that takes care of all the immediate problems I saw. The crystal, the ceremony, and now the Old Wall and new forces.” I reached out and picked up a cup of coffee, drinking it quickly. “If things go our way, we’ll have Iedolas in custody and can possibly force a peace treaty in our favor this time. Or whatever.” I waved a hand and pointed to my dad. “I’ll leave that to you.”

My dad sipped on his warm cup of tea. “I must admit that the thought of having Iedolas in my dungeon is a wonderful one.”

“Hey, Noct,” Gladio called, sitting back in a relaxed fashion. “Didn’t you mention something about Ardyn being the one pulling the strings behind all this?”

I snorted into my coffee and coughed, trying to clear my airways because of course. How could I have forgotten. “Right, right. Yeah. Ardyn is definitely important. No one can fight him but me.”

My dad quirked an eyebrow at my angry tone. “What is this? Revenge?”

I shook my head and let out a slow breath. “No. Ardyn is the darkness the King of Light was destined to fight. Literally, no one can fight him but me. He’s been manipulating Niflheim for years to go to war against Lucis and eventually destroy us.”

Prompto frowned and scratched his chin, tucking his legs underneath himself. “I don’t get it. I thought this Ardyn guy was harmless. He dresses funny. How is he this big bad guy?”

I glanced at my dad before looking back at my coffee, sinking to sit on my heels and shifting from there to sit with my legs crossed. “Ardyn Izunia’s real name is Ardyn Lucis Caelum,” I explained. My dad promptly choked on his coffee and went into his own coughing fit. Ignis fairly snorted his tea out his nose. I waited for them to finish before continuing on. “Ardyn is over two thousand years old, a banished king from the time of the Starscourge, a disease that turned people into daemons. He was the only healer capable of ridding the disease, so the gods asked him to save Eos, which he did.” I nodded, trying to wrap my head around the enormity of that task. “He cured the Starscourge by absorbing the darkness into himself. Tainting himself. After he did as the gods asked, they told him he would never ascend because of the darkness inside of him. After that, a new Lucian king, Izunia, rose to power and banished Ardyn; hence where Ardyn picked his last name.” I took another long draught of my drink.

“Ardyn is incredibly powerful and skilled in magic, not to mention manipulative and deceiving. He’s played so many mind games with me.” I grimaced as I thought back to all the illusions he’d made me see. “For the past two thousand years, he’s been working towards his goal of getting revenge on the planet, the gods, and Lucis. I very nearly didn’t beat him last time and it was only when the Kings of Lucii and I destroyed him in the beyond that it was over for good.” I hoped at least. I glanced up at my dad and brothers. “It’s possible that even if we captured Iedolas that Ardyn will take over Niflheim and lead them himself. He will be the wild card tomorrow. I don’t know where he’ll be since I don’t think he’ll be at the ceremony.” My dad shook his head when I glanced at him. I sighed and closed my eyes tiredly. “I think the best we can do is report his position to me as soon as he’s spotted so I can take care of him. We take him out, then all this over. Everything.”

“Oh, is that all,” Gladio muttered sarcastically.

“I never said anything was easy,” I pointed out, hiding a yawn behind my coffee cup.

“So, let me get this straight,” Prompto started, holding up one finger. “In the morning, we’re going to change all the guard stations and shifts to confuse any traitors.” Another finger went up. “We’re specifically pulling people we know we can trust to help guard the signing and the crystal with Gladio and Iggy with the King and Noct and I with The Runners at the Crystal. Oh, and that ‘Glaive guy too.” A third finger went up. “In case Noct and I can’t keep the crystal safe, Noct is going to…” The blond waved a hand, searching for a word, “…summon? Summon this ‘Old Wall’ to keep the Nifs back. And!” The fourth and final finger went up. “And even if we get the creepy emperor dude the real big bad guy is still somewhere we don’t know and we might lose him.” Prompto looked around at all of us. “Did I forget something?”

Gladio snorted and slapped Prompto’s shoulder while Ignis fussed with his glasses, trying to hide his smile. “No, Prompto, I think you summarized our discussion perfectly.”

“It’s one of my many skills,” the gunner preened before yelping at another hard pat from Gladiolus.

My dad cast me an amused look, which I returned, before refocusing on my brothers. “Indeed. With the groundwork in place, we need to start acting. Ignis, could you retrieve Clarus, Cor, and Drautos? They will know the guard assignments best and how to change them.”

My advisor stood and gave a bow. “Right away, your Majesty.”

Before he could leave, my dad continued, “And I would like your input on the guard placements as well, Ignis. Noct has always told me you’re quite the tactician.”

I nodded at the stunned look Ignis gave me. “Nothing but the truth. Though I think I was complaining when I mentioned it.”

My dad chuckled, sipping his tea. “That is how you know you are truly the best.” Ignis looked a little lost and thrilled as he sketched another bow, reading between the lines that he was dismissed. My dad’s green eyes focused on Gladio next. My Shield was already on his feet, bowing. “Gladiolus, please gather your trusted friends and bring them here. Discreetly, of course.”

“It will be done.”

I watched Gladio leave the room before getting up from where I sat on the ground, stretching my knees out. “Prompto and I will head into the city and get in touch with The Runners,” I told my dad. “Best get them now when they’re awake.”

He gave me a chiding and disapproving look, but sighed nonetheless. “Be careful, Noctis. _And discreet_. There’s no point to all this clandestine meeting if we draw the attention of Niflheim due to our movements.”

I reached out to squeeze his weathered hand as I passed. “I know, dad. We may be awhile, but I’ll check in. Just make sure your phone is charged for once.”

He squeezed back, but let me go. “Stupid piece of technology,” he muttered lowly, though humor twinkled in his eyes. “Walk tall, my son.”

“Stay strong, dad.”

 

FFXV

 

I carefully controlled my steps as I entered the throne room via the service entrance before moving over to where my dad stood at one of the windows flanking his throne. “Dad,” I greeted quietly as I finished my silent approach.

He turned from the window for a moment to regard me, taking in my new, longer, and sturdier leather jacket with a higher collar, heavier boots, my standard three-quarters pants and biker gloves, and a belt slung about my waist with pouches carrying various potions, elixirs, and phoenix downs that Ignis had gathered for me this morning. The ones I physically carried were a backup in case my connection to the crystal was cut. The rest of my supply was with my armiger. In my ear was a communicator set between my brothers and I. “You are ready,” he murmured lowly.

I nodded as he returned to facing the window and I joined him in taking in the view. The sun was just starting to get into its final descent to the horizon, signaling the lengthening day and the approaching signing ceremony. The welcoming courtyard had numerous guards standing at attention, keeping the citizens back from the circular road. As I watched, I could see a convoy of cars approach the guard house to be evaluated. “Prompto is taking our friends to the crystal now,” I reported softly, very aware of how my voice could carry in this room. “They’ll be out of sight until I give them the word. How did the guard switch go?”

“Fine. An earlier morning for all of them then what they were expecting, but everyone is where they should be,” my dad replied. “Scans and radars of the surrounding areas show no air ships.”

“Not yet at least.” He nodded in agreement and I let out a small sigh as the convoy of cars was let through to approach the citadel. “I came to do a final check in before heading over to the crystal.”

“I never thought I’d live to see the day I’d send my son off to battle,” my dad whispered before I could get more than two steps away. I stopped and looked over my shoulder to his stoic form. “If I had my way, you’d never know battle.” It’s not something I really thought about, but in the next moment I was back at his side, wrapping an arm around his waist. He refused to look at me. “Come back to me, Noctis. As a father to his son, come back to me.”

I squeezed him tighter and followed his gaze down. “Always. Promise me you’ll be safe.”

His hand came down to squeeze mine in return. “I will do my best.” Finally, a flicker of a smile. “Go.”

I nodded and released him only to catch a glimpse of maroon. I froze and locked onto the rare shade of color. My heart starts to race as I watch that familiar figure place his hat upon his head and follow Iedolas up the stairs and into the citadel. And then he stopped. I nearly stopped breathing when the man unerringly looked up at the window my dad and I stood at and I’d recognize that leering smile even from a distance. The man tipped his hat at us before continuing on. “I thought you said he wouldn’t be at the ceremony,” I said faintly, trying to regain my balance.

“He’s not supposed to.” My dad frowns but turns as we hear someone approaching from behind. “Clarus.”

My dad’s Shield came to our sides. “The ceremony is in less than two hours,” he informed us. “We must make ready.”

I knew when to take my cue. “If he shows up at the ceremony, tell me. Gladio and I will switch.” I don’t even bother waiting for a response: the sight of Ardyn spurring new energy and urgency into my actions.

I’m moving back to the service entrance when I see a servant hurry into the room. “Your Majesty!” he called, tension tight in his voice. I pause in my exit, wondering if something important had happened. “A man from the Kingsglaive is here, sire. He demands an audience.”

I quirk an eyebrow at the announcement, wondering who had the guts to demand something like that at a time like this. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched my dad change his demeanor into that of King Regis in an instant, lifting his chin and standing straighter. “Demands?” he repeats, not quite incredulously but he still gets his sentiment across.

Before the servant can further explain the throne room doors are thrown open, surprising the apparently inept Crownsguards who just let the man dressed as a ‘Glaive pass by without stopping him. “Your Majesty. Please give the orders to deploy the ‘Glaive.” My surprise just rose more and more as this ‘Glaive forewent waiting to be acknowledge and instead went to making demands/pleas of my dad. He certainly had guts. Though he did hurry to drop to a knee once he was at the base of the stairs.

I took in his appearance, his formal ‘Glaive uniform crisp and in place, making him look like the soldier he was, but his hair stood out all the more. Shaved at the sides and long at the top with a few beaded braids here and there. Certainly, it wasn’t a common style in Lucis. I wondered briefly where he hailed from. Galahd most likely given who made up the majority of the Kingsglaive.

“You?” I blinked in surprise at my dad’s tone. He recognized this man.

“A Niflheim fleet makes ready for war,” the ‘Glaive reported quickly. “Twenty miles to the south.”

I move closer to my dad, watching this ‘Glaive closely. “I thought our radar sweeps weren’t turning up anything,” I said to my dad. Well, at least now we knew where the airships were.

The Kingsglaive seemed surprised, as if he hadn’t seen me at first. “Your Highness,” he greeted, bowing his head quickly, but it didn’t hide his confusion. “Forgive me, but they’re hiding in the canyon. A normal radar sweep wouldn’t detect them unless we were specifically looking in that area.”

I nodded slowly, pursing my lips. “And the reason we weren’t specifically scanning a known hiding place?” I questioned quietly before looking at Clarus. “I think we should take another look at those in Scanning.” Either someone was an idiot or we had a traitor there. My dad’s Shield nodded in understanding.

“They have the princess.” My dad stiffened at the announcement and I felt the floor drop from underneath my feet.

“Luna?” I breathed, looking to stare blindly at my dad. He nodded tightly and I had to turn my back to the ‘Glaive, pressing a hand to my mouth in order to maintain my composure. Luna was gone. Luna was taken captive. My blood both froze and boiled at the thought. I couldn’t lose her again. I couldn’t. “Dad—” I started only to be cut off.

“No.” He sent a mild glare at me before nodding to Clarus. “Post guards outside the treaty room.”

The Shield didn’t look very surprised. “It will be seen as a lack of faith in the peace.”

“Which we all harbor,” my dad retorted. “See it done.” The Shield bowed his head in agreement.

“Dad,” I tried again and got a staying hand.

“You may well have to take Emperor Aldercap into custody,” King Regis said and this one surprised Clarus.

“Detain him?” he repeated for clarification and I felt each second slipping past me like a knife to my skin. We were wasting time! “That would go beyond a new declaration of war.”

“We are still at war, Clarus.

Panic began to stab into my heart. “Dad, please!”

“No!” he said more firmly before switching his cane to his other hand, freeing one to grab my shoulder and pull me closer. “Calm yourself, son, and think!” he whispered. “Princess Lunafreya’s capture is something that couldn’t have anything to do with your influence. You did not come in contact with her and your presence is only known to a few in the citadel,” he explained, speaking quickly as if he could sense my fraying control. “Now, remember you told me that Lunafreya survived the fall of Insomnia despite being here. That means that whatever I did and will do now will ensure her safety.”

“But this is Luna, dad!” I whispered back harshly. My hands shook with anxious energy. “I need to protect her!” More than anything. I would not fail this time.

“You need to think of the bigger picture.” He shook my shoulder. “Trust in me and the ‘Glaive to keep Princess Lunafreya safe. You will return to the crystal and go to Ardyn later. She will be in good hands.” He pulled back and looked me over searchingly. He squeezed my shoulder. “Clear your head, Noctis. There is a battle to be fought and it will be lost before it even begins if you cannot focus. Do you understand?”

I warred with myself, heart and against mind, for a long eternal moment before nodding. Gods, it hurt to nod and relinquish that task. I pressed a hand to my diaphragm, urging my body to take slow breaths and calm down. My father snapped his gaze down at the Kingsglaive while I took a moment. “And you. Nyx Ulric.” Vaguely, I recognized the name and put a face to the name. This was the man my dad would have help me in defending the crystal. “How soon can the Kingsglaive deploy?”

“On your word. At once,” came the immediate answer.

“Go then,” my King commanded. “Save Luna.”

The Kingsglaive gave a final nod before rising and sweeping towards the exit, purpose in his stride. I fought with myself again before finally giving in to my desire. I warped across the room, making Nyx jump faintly as I appeared at his side.

“Noctis!” my dad called warningly but I waved a hand. I knew what I had to do. I just wanted to take this small moment.

“Your Highness,” the ‘Glaive greeted, never once pausing in his speed walk. I could appreciate his refusal to pause in such an important mission. I think I would lose all control if I thought he wasn’t taking this any less serious.

“Ulric,” I replied, glancing up at the taller man from the corner of my eye. “I don’t think I need to tell you how important this mission is.”

He shook his head, braids lifting slightly. “No, sire.”

“Then I’m trusting you to bring my fiancée back to me. She is important to not only all the people in Lucis, but also me. There is no room for failure on this mission.”

Nyx seemed to take a moment to meet my burning gaze intently before nodding. “I understand. If it costs me my life, I will ensure that she is returned to safety.”

“Good. Gods be with you, Ulric.”

“And with you as well, Prince.”

I warped away a moment later, reappearing in a service hallway and startling a handful of servants. I ignored them in my storm of emotions. Rage at Luna being held captive and being forced to stand aside, fear that I would fail her yet again, sorrow and grief for the time that I did lose her. It all swirled in my head and heart until the air around me began to spark and crack with my magic.

I didn’t realize that I’d reached my destination until a familiar head of blond hair suddenly appeared in front of me along with bright blue eyes. “Whoa, whoa, whoa, Noct! What’s going on? Your eyes are red and you look ready to murder someone.” My friend caught my shoulders, his voice carrying in the tiny hallway despite his attempt at whispering. In the back of my mind, I knew we were surrounded by the members of The Runner already in position and primed to fight and that we were currently under the floor of the halls outside the crystal room, lying in wait for an attack.

I fought to take steady breaths. “They have Luna,” I whispered back, squeezing my eyes shut against the image of Luna being laid to her final rest, looking so beautiful and at peace. “Those fucking Nifs have Luna.” My entire body felt like it was one fire.

“Easy, Noct. Easy. Calm down.” Prompto pushed his forehead against mine and caught my hands in his, squeezing strongly. “Everything is going to be okay. Luna is going to be okay. Calm down.” He continued whispering promises and assurances, keeping my total attention on him as my emotions raged through my heart.

It took a few long minutes, but I finally got a handle on it. I let out a slow breath and leaned back into my brother. “My dad is sending the entire ‘Glaive to get her back,” I told him.

“Then she’ll totally be safe,” the gunner replied. “Those guys fight back the Nif _armies_. They can take on these guys and get her back. They’re professionals when it comes to this.”

I nodded, desperately needing this logic explained to me. “My dad said, she got out safe last time without me here, so she’ll be safe if I stay back.”

“Right, right. Don’t want to mess with all that. Just you wait, you’ll have her back and we’ll have the biggest wedding ever and you can finally introduce us. I’ve been waiting so long to see Chibi again.”

I snorted quietly in laughter. “Pryna.”

“I think Chibi is a better name.”

“You can argue that with her later.” I took one last second before leaning back, feeling better and centered again. “Thanks.”

Prompto’s smile was as bright as the sun despite being in a shadowed and tiny hallway. “No problem. I’m just glad I got to you before you killed someone.”

“Only person I’d kill is Ardyn and the Emperor. By the way, Ardyn is in the citadel last I checked. Dad said he shouldn’t be attending but you…” I quickly swapped information with him, updating him and myself on the current proceedings before activating my comm to get an update on Ignis and Gladiolus. They were in position above the treaty room, hiding in the rafters with another two Crownsguards waiting in the service hallways to the room.

I spent the remaining time to the treaty signing moving among The Runners, touching base and making sure they were ready. As it got closer to the time, I moved from the service tunnels under the crystal to the vents above the hallway outside the crystal room, giving me the best vantage point to tell the others when to spring our trap.

I watched as the current Crownsguards did their final checks of the crystal and exited the room, sealing the panels, vault, and door.

Just in time for the crowd to start cheering outside.

“The treaty is on the table,” Ignis whispered, his voice a little more tinny than usual due to the technology. “King Regis and Emperor Aldercap are side by side at the table.”

“Aldercap is lording something over the king,” Gladio murmured. “He’s way too smug.”

“Can you hear what they’re saying?” I asked.

“No. We’re too far up.”

I tsked, hoping to get some hint of Iedolas’ plans from the conversation. “Doesn’t matter. Get ready. We’re in the final countdown. Prompto, The Runners ready?”

“More than,” came the immediate answer, lacking almost all cheer and exuberance as we started getting down to the wire. “On your word, Noct.”

“Hold st—”

“Fucking shit!” Gladio suddenly swore and I stiffened, heart racing in an attempt to leave my chest.

“Gladio, hold position! _Hold position!_ Don’t move!” Ignis hissed frantically.

“That bastard has a fucking gun on the king and you want me to sit still?!” My heart dropped. Oh no. Oh please no. Not while I’m not there to protect him. Please don’t die because I failed again. Please.

“They’re at a standstill, Gladio. We’d only start a fire fight if we dropped now, so _hold position_.”

I took deep regular breaths. “Ignis, gimme a report on—” I gasped and slapped my hands down onto the vent when the building suddenly shook and trembled, an echoing explosion and screams reaching my ears. “Here we go,” I whispered, feeling it down to my bones. “Prompto, hold for now. Wait for my command.”

“Right.”

“Those explosions came from outside the citadel,” Ignis remarked and I watched as the guards under me armed themselves and spun to face the entrance. I tilted my head as the sound of many metal footsteps echoed up the hall and called a short dagger to hand. It was almost time for me to move. The second gunshots echoed into the hall, I was out of the vent and falling to the ground, armed and ready.

My blade blurred from my hand and lodge into the helmet of an MT. Before he even fell I warped to my sword, yanked it out, kicked off the body, and landed on another, savagely stabbing into the gap between helmet and metal collar.

I pulled from them and moved back towards the door, leaving the remains of the first wave. “Y-Your Highness!” the captain in charge spluttered and I waved behind me.

“Set three men to that doorway. Make sure they don’t try to come up it again. The rest on the main hall,” I ordered, already hearing the stamping of the next wave. “We will not lose the crystal.”

The captain snapped a salute. “Yes, sir! You heard him. Move it!”

It was tempting to just blast the hallway in front of me with a searing fire spell, but it was still the beginning of the invasion and I needed to pace myself, save my magic and strength for Ardyn. So I threw myself into the next wave. Only it wasn’t as small as the first.

The five Crownsguards with me started falling within a minute under the barrage of gunfire from the twenty or so Imperial soldiers. I threw my hand out and cast a quick barrier before pressing a finger to my comm. “Prompto, show time.”

“Hell, yeah!”

I shattered my own barrier just as I heard the shouts and yells of The Runners coming up from the floor guns blazing. “Check your fire! Check your fire!” I called to the Crownsguards. “Reinforcements coming up behind us!” Then I called my long sword and cut a swathe through the MTs in front of me. With the forty sharp shooters and men flooding our side of the fight we quickly demolished the last of the second wave. Prompto didn’t need any urging from me to start placing The Runners at key points on this floor and the floor below, working to safeguard the crystal.

I touched my comm line. “The crystal is secure for now, but I think they’ll come stronger once they realized they’ve failed. How are things going on your end, Iggy, Gladio?”

There was a long moment before the line opened on their end and I immediately tensed at the sound of gun fire and fighting. “We need reinforcements,” Ignis gasped. “General Glauca is here and Prince Ravus is…” Ignis grunted and there was a sound of an explosion. “Noct, we need help.”

“Do you still have my dagger?” I demanded.

“Yes! Throwing in three, two…” I took a deep breath and focused my mind, following the ethereal threads of magic and power to a specific dagger. One of three I’d given to my brothers to give me immediate warp points. Warping was never easy and warping over long distances was almost impossible without a focus point, but my weapons were a part of me. It was only a matter of power. “One!”

I lunged down that specific thread and felt the familiar bending and breaking of the world around me, the only difference this time being how pressured and crushed I felt. For a moment, I thought I was going to break and fall into the oblivion that was supposed to be my final resting place.

Then it was over.

I gasped as I found myself in the air, hand wrapped around the hilt of my dagger and light and glass surrounding me. I only had a split second to take in my surroundings and act, which was hard given how disoriented I was, but my focus locked solely on the hulking form in bark-esque metal armor looming over everything in the room. Glauca.

I called the Axe of the Conqueror to hand and lifted it over head with a snarl before gravity and my own strength brought it crashing down on the General’s shoulder. The scream of agony I got was so satisfying to hear. Especially when I realized the infamous general had been standing over my injured dad and pinned to the wall by a blade was his Shield.

I seethed as I kicked off the General’s chest, backflipping to land on a knee. In that second, I could see that the rest of my dad’s council was dead along with the majority of the Niflheim council. Across the room was Gladiolus fighting Ravus, who was attempting to protect a wounded Iedolas and get out of the room. Ignis was already at my dad’s side, potion in hand.

We were the only ones left alive in the room.

“Get him out of here!” I barked at Ignis. “Gladio, do you need help or are you done playing?!” I admit, the sheer anger and volume in my voice scared a small part of me, but I was too focused on the sight of General Glauca healing himself and his arm right before my eyes.

“Oh, shut it!” my Shield shouted back. “I was waiting for your lazy ass to come join the party!”

“Then take them into custody already!” I gritted my teeth before calling my magic. I warped the few feet forward and into the air by Glauca’s head, bringing down the Sword of the Wise. I was blocked, but I kept up the barrage of attacks, keeping myself midair with the speed and force of my attacks. My Shield let out a bellow as he dove back into his fight.

This was my first time facing Glauca and he lived up to be every bit of the monster the stories told about him described. He was inhumanly fast and strong for wearing such heavy armor and if I hadn’t seen him bleed from my attack I’d think him to be an advanced MT.

I shouted as the General’s armor flared a bright red light before suddenly finding the hilt of that massive sword in my gut. The wall of the treaty room splintered and cracked as I smashed into it and even though it felt like my entire ribcage had caved in I forced myself to warp and roll. Not even a moment later Glauca’s sword had stabbed into the marble flooring where I’d been. I leapt into the air, calling a spear to hand, and aimed for his exposed back only to have him spin in time to block me.

My eyes narrowed. Fast and strong. Stronger than Gladio and faster than me. It was an incredible combination and would be difficult to overcome. My advantage was my magic.

I warped in a flurry of moves, spending no more than a second in one place to lash out with my weapon of choice, before warping to another point and repeating. It was impossible to do any lasting damage with that armor so thick and covering his entire body, but joints were always my favorite place to hit on any enemy. Still, it was frustrating not to make anything more than a scratch on my opponent. At least he was getting increasingly enraged at failing to land a hit on me.

Changing tactics, I gathered magic in my hands and sparked it to life. Electricity cracked and snapped in my hand before I threw it forward, launching lightning from my hand. It was more effective than I thought, sending the hulking General across the room with a roar of pain.

I sniffed and rubbed the back of my hand across my nose. That many warps in one go was enough to make even me dizzy, but I kept my balance and lifted my right hand. Under my biker glove the blue light of the Ring of Lucii glowed as I called on the spell Death. Red smoky tendrils leapt forward and latched eagerly onto Glauca and I felt the rush of warmth and energy signaling the success of my spell. The General, who had been lumbering himself back to his feet, stumbled and nearly fell to one knee. I could hear his gasp in shock even from across the room and through his helmet and felt a sick sense of achievement as my spell continued working.

I would’ve happily drained the General to death except Gladio’s shout of warning drew my attention. My eyes shifted to the right just in time to see a blur of white lunging for my hand. It was instinct that had me cancelling the spell and shifting back while calling my magic. But not even I was fast enough to react with almost no warning.

I gasped in pain as the sword bit into my left hand, sending a fire of agony up my arm as blood splattered across the floor. There was a long moment in which my vision blurred and I thought my entire hand had been cut off, but my palm and all five fingers came into focus as I fell to one knee. My glove was damaged and my hand was drenched in blood and my ring, middle, and pointer fingers were cut down to the bone, but it was intact.

It was only when I heard the _tink_ of metal hitting stone that I realized the Ring of Lucii no longer sat on my finger.

The shock of my sudden injury was clearing away as I watched Ravus pick up my ring with a look of awe on his face. Vaguely, I heard someone shout my name, but I was too focused on Ravus and what I knew was to come.

“The Ring of the Lucii,” the white-haired prince murmured reverently, his voice carrying in the sudden silence of the room. “I lost my mother, my country, my birthright.” His dual colored eyes turned to me and he sneered as if I was the dirt beneath his feet. “Niflheim was the only life left to me. But all that was for this.” He raised the ring to show it to me. Taunting me.

“Ravus,” I called roughly, drawing his gaze back to me. I met his eyes, hoping to convey how honest and sincere my warning was about to be. “You don’t want to do this. That ring isn’t what you think it is. It’s a poison to those who wear it, draining and taking from the bearers until there’s nothing left and that’s even if the Kings of Lucii accept the bearer.”

My mind flicked back to Gralae where I’d found the Prince dead, caught in his betrayal to help his sister. I remember the monstrosity Ardyn had turned him into, desecrating his final rest and how he’d brokenly begged my brothers and I to kill him once and for all, those once proud and haughty brown and blue eyes so full of sorrow and pain. The fight hadn’t been as hard as some of our others, but it had been one that left me reeling internally. “You don’t want to walk down this path, Ravus,” I whispered roughly, shaking my head slowly. “You won’t like where it ends. Think of Luna, Ravus. You know what she would think of this. She would not want this.”

I knew I’d failed when I saw ice creep into those eyes once more and the fist tighten around the ring. I’d failed again. “My sister has her duties,” the Prince spat, resentment and anger lining every inch of his body. “And I have mine. For my mother.”

“Have you forgotten who really killed your mother?!” I shouted, eyes widening as the Prince slipped the ring onto his finger. “Ravus, don’t!” But it was too late.

Screams split the air and Ravus was on the ground, writhing and clutching his burning arm. His fall let him just barely dodge Glauca’s lunge to cut the prince down. The ring rolled across the floor back to me. With my hand already healed from the magic I’d pumped into the wound, I gingerly picked it up and slipped it back onto my middle finger. In the back of my head, I could hear the disapproving rumbles and murmurs of the kings of old apparently irritated that Ravus had tried to call them forth. They quieted down in the split second that Glauca refocused his attention on me.

I was readying a shield to protect me when a voice split through the air.

“Look out!”

My breath caught in my throat and it was like time stopped as I watched a gold and white figure hurry towards me. Alive. Whole.

And in danger.

My barrier shifted almost of its own free will because it certainly happened faster than I could think of it and covered Luna, leaving me defenseless against the sword bearing down on me. I was in the process of throwing myself back what there was an explosion of blue and silver sparks, followed by the telltale sound of a warp.

Nyx appeared, bearing down on Glauca with his kukris, the weapon signature to the Kingsglaive. The General batted the man aside like one would a fly, sending him crashing across the room. It was instinct that had me moving to take advantage of the opening present to me and the Sword of the Tall appeared in my hand. A large metal hand snapped up to block the attack, but I let weapon shatter into glass in favor of moving forward, calling the dual parts of the Sword of the Wanderer to my hands. I slammed the point of one sword into the hip joint, but before I could connect the other my forearm was grabbed in a crushing grip.

Before I could even shout I had warped out of the grip and into the air above my opponent, Trident of the Oracle appearing. Nyx warped down low by Glauca’s feet, taking the low ground in counterpart to my high ground. It’s a testament to Glauca’s fighting ability that he was able to keep even with two warping warriors coming at him from all angles, but not even he was invincible.

He fell as I tripped up his ankles, crashing hard to the ground as Nyx warped onto his chest and drove his kukris under the helmet and into the neck in a killing blow.

I panted, remaining crouched by the twitching feet of the General before sighing in relief as the magical armor began to recede and shrink, signaling the end of the fight. Slowly, I got to my feet and helped brace Nyx as he stumbled off our opponent. It was hard to restrain myself from unleashing a magical barrage, but I still had to think of Ardyn.

I was just about to turn and congratulate the ‘Glaive on fighting and warping so well when the warrior stiffened and paled, staring down at the face of General Glauca. “Captain…Drautos?” he murmured faintly.

I stiffened and snapped my down to look at the fallen general. Sure enough, the bloodied face of the Captain of the Kingsglaive was laid out and I hissed a horrified breath. It was Drautos who’d betrayed us? The betrayal had gone that far up? Did that mean the Kingsglaive was compromised? “Unbelievable,” I growled before looking to Nyx as he fell to one knee, looking shaken and horrified. 

“Why did you do it?” the warrior asked. “How could you do it? Why would you betray us?” But any chance of answering was gone the second Nyx shoved the knife into the man’s throat, severing his vocal cords. His only response was blood bubbling up from Glauca’s lips before the light of life dimmed from his eyes.

“The ‘Glaive,” I started. “Can they be trusted?” Was our very own army against us? It was a scary thought to have as I watched as the light of Drautos’ soul, grey and red, floated up from the man’s chest, smaller than what it should be as if it had been neglected and under fed. It seemed to hesitate in front of Nyx’s unseeing face before floating up into the air and disappearing through the ceiling. Gone forever.

“No,” Nyx answered hoarsely. “We’ve been betrayed. The traitors attacked those who were still loyal while we were on our mission.” He swallowed roughly and rose to his feet, glancing at me wearily. “I’m sorry, Your Highness. I never knew. But my blade is still yours to command.”

I nodded and reached out to rest a hand on his shoulder. “I don’t need an army when I have one loyal man. Thank you.”

The shoulder heaved under my hand in a sigh. “No. Thank you.” I looked over my shoulder at my dad and Ignis. They both looked a little worse for wear, my dad more so than Ignis, but both seemed alright. Gladio was fine twisting one of Iedolas’ arms behind his back with one hand and holding his massive sword to the old man’s neck with the other.

It was the movement over to my left that drew my attention to the final person in the group. My whole world narrowed down to one point as I focused on the slim woman dressed in shimmering white and silver, kneeling down beside her brother. She looked so very alive with her hair done up in her favorite style, a red flush riding her pale cheeks, and life shining in those light blue eyes. She looked so beautiful and it made my head spin to have her here right in front of me.

I swallowed hard and looked away quickly, trying to reign myself in before I did something rash and inexplicable. My gaze happened to meet my dad’s and he looked understanding. He cleared his throat. “Luna,” he called. “We must leave before more troops arrive.” The love of my life nodded without looking up from her unconscious and severely burned brother. “Ulric, could you help with Ravus?”

“Of course, your Highness,” the ‘Glaive replied before moving over to the pair. “Excuse me, Princess.”

“Luna,” I murmured as the woman stood up and let Nyx lift her brother over his shoulder. She finally looked away and I felt like I’d been sucker punched the moment she met my eyes. There had been so little time last time. Barely any time at all. We hadn’t even been able to talk with each other; only find each other across a crowd. It was only in her death that we were able to finally speak with each other and that moment hadn’t been enough. It brought that horrible time back to the fore of my mind and all I could see was her, drifting away, forever out of my reach no matter how I strained and fought.

“I’m sorry,” I whispered roughly, hands fisting impossibly tight at my sides. “I’m sorry.” I’m sorry I wasn’t able to save you. I’m sorry I wasn’t there for you. I’m so sorry I wasn’t strong enough.

The woman peered at me curiously, tilting her head slightly. “You are not apologizing in a misplaced sense that you are responsibility for my brother’s injury or my kidnapping,” she said evenly, knowingly. “So, what are you apologizing for?”

I couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped my throat even as her soothing voice allowed me to relax some. “Perceptive as always,” I complimented before sketching a low bow, letting out a very slow sigh of relief. She was here. She was alive. “It’s good to see you again.”

“And you as well, dear Noctis,” she replied, her heels clicking against the marble flooring as she and Nyx moved over to where the others were gathered at the hidden escape elevator at the back of the room. “What was it you were apologizing for? You seem to feel rather weighed down by it.”

I shook my head and waved her ahead of me. “After all this is over, I’ll tell you. Right now, we’ve got to get you and my dad out of here.”

She stopped just inside the elevator and looked back at me sharply. “Not you?”

“There’s still a battle to be fought. Someone else besides Idola to bring down.”

Before I could go on further encouraging her to get to safety, I felt a strange shift in my connection with the crystal at the same moment my dad gasped and staggered. It took me a long moment to identify the sudden lifting of a burden and I felt dread settle in my heart as I spun to look out the huge windows of the treaty room. “The wall,” I gasped, watching with wide eyes as the purple sheen to the sky shattered and broke apart. “Prompto.”

Ignoring the voices calling my name, I deftly found the thread of magic connecting to the dagger I’d given to Prompto and yanked on it, warping myself across the great distance. My mind was too busy thrumming with the possibilities of what was to come to notice the intense pressure and pull of the warp this time around, so I stumbled into existence amid wreckage and bodies. Smoke made the room hazy and dim under the broken lights, but I easily saw the bodies and blood laying everywhere and the door gaping open into the crystal chamber.

My eyes immediately fell to the body at my feet. Prompto was still and quiet, laying on his side. I dropped to my knees and pressed a shaking hand to his pale throat while looking for other injuries. “P-Prom?” I called. He seemed a little banged up, the most obvious injury being the one to his head. It eased my panic a little when I felt the firm heartbeat under my fingers. I shook his shoulder. “Prompto!”

“Well, isn’t this touching?”

I froze at the insidious voice before slowly turning to look over my shoulder. Ardyn stood nonchalantly among the smoke and bodies, leather arm decoration in place and hat tilted up so he could see. His wine-colored hair looked almost like blood in the shadows and amber eyes glowing unnaturally like I’m sure my red eyes currently were.

He smirked. “Struck speechless? I do have that effect.”

Rage seethed through me, but I firmly stomped it down. Powerful emotions had never served me well when dealing with Ardyn. It had cost me Prompto at one point and multiple traps in others. Instead, I turned back to Prompto and dug a hand into one of my pouches. With my other hand I pulled my comm device out of my ear, irritated at the voices demanding I respond. “Ardyn Izunia,” I greeted, voice as cold as Shiva herself.

“Ah! My reputation precedes me I see.”

I untangled a single phoenix down and opened Prompto’s limp hand, pressing the feather into it. “I’m afraid it does. But…” I smirked a bit to myself. “I actually want to know about your other reputation.”

“My other reputation? What ever do you mean?” His voice. Gods, his voice I hated that taunting, know-it-all voice.

I squeezed Prompto’s hand around the feather and watched as it burned, spreading magic and power through my friend’s body. The blond shivered before coming to with a gasp, eyes wide with fear and surprise. I rested a hand on his shoulder, signaling him to be still. “Don’t play with me, jester,” I ordered, standing up and turning to face my long-time enemy. His infuriating smile was still in place. “You know who I am. What I am. You know what I am meant to do.” I called the Sword of the Father to hand. “Just as I know who you are. Ardyn. Lucis. Caelum.”

The reaction was instant. Gone was the smile and relaxed, welcoming attitude. In its place, were the faint shadows of the darkness inside of him and a scowl. “You aren’t supposed to know that.”

“You know, I can almost understand you,” I told him. “I can understand why you hate Lucis and our bloodline and the gods themselves. Who wouldn’t in your case? Starscourge healer. Planet saver. You were the one to save everyone and yet the gods refused to let you ascend.” The shadows tainting him eyes and mouth were fully darkened and the man started pacing, eyeing me like an animal waiting to pounce for the kill. I forced myself to remain outwardly calm. It was a bit of a thrill to be the one playing the mind games this time around. “That sucks. That really sucks. Especially when you were banished by the next king, Izunia. You have every reason to be mad and furious, but there’s something I don’t understand.”

“And what is that, little Prince?” the Scourge purred.

“How you could possibly be angry enough to destroy the whole planet. How you could find it in yourself to kill millions of people and all life on the planet. I understand anger and grief and hate, but not to that level. I can’t understand how you’d be willing to destroy the world through eternal night.”

“Now this just isn’t fair.” He finally came to a stop and grinned a pitch-stained smile. “I had a whole show planned with an encore included. It was so wonderfully elaborate and entertaining.” The grin suddenly disappeared and he snarled at me, the sound entirely inhuman. “And now you’ve gone and ruined it,” he hissed. “All my hard work, all for you, gone! Such a waste.” He tsked and looked to the side. “You ask how I can have it in me to damn the whole planet and everything on it. It’s very simple, Noct. I. Hate. Everything. Everything you see around you, is here because of me. Me! I’m the one who saved civilization and saved the planet and I was damned for it. I look around and I see everyone enjoying the fruits of my labor and sacrifices and I _hate them_. For two thousand years, I watched as the world flourished while I was left to rot. I gave everything for it. It is only fair that it gave everything to me in return.”

I pursed my lips at that logic. The same logic Bahamut had explained to me when I first entered the crystal. I hated that logic. “And you know I can’t let you do that to the planet. I can’t let you have your revenge.”

The Scourge erupted into an uproar of laughter, holding one hand to his stomach with the force of his mirth. He wiped nonexistent tears from his eyes. “Pray tell, how do you intend to do that? You obviously know what I’m capable of.”

I shrugged and readjusted my grip on my dad’s sword. “I’ve done it before, I’ll do it again. And again. And again. Until you finally stop. That is what the stars and gods demand.”

“You must think yourself so _righteous_ to be obeying the _gods_ and _stars_.” He spat on the ground, sneering. “Heed a lesson from this old man. We’re nothing more than tools to them, thrown away the second we lose our usefulness. We’re _nothing_ to them.”

“I know,” I agreed. “I’ve felt their hand all my life. I’ve had that hand take away everything I hold dear and then expect me to give even more. I know what that’s like.”

Black eyes narrowed. “So then why do you keep obeying them?”

“Because what I do keeps my family and loved ones safe. Even if it means I die, as long as they’re still alive and safe I will continue being a tool.”

“Pathetic. _Pathetic_.”

“I am a servant to my people. Just as you once were.”

“ _And look where that got me!_ ” I barely got my hands up call a barrier, blocking the manifested sword of my enemy. “I’ve waited too long and given too much to fail,” the crazed man warned before drawing his arm back and striking again, shattering my barrier.

I crossed my blade with his and held him back. “Funny,” I grunted, struggling a bit to hold back his strength despite having thrown Iron Giants around in the past. Ardyn was insanely strong. “I’m actually thinking the same thing.”

I disengaged our blades and took a slashing-feign at the man. He dodged and I was about to follow to continue the fight when a loud gunshot reported from right behind me. I knew the sound of Prompt’s custom gun from anywhere and felt pride when Ardyn stumbled a step, shoulder jerking from where the bullet had landed.

“You sick son of a bitch,” the blond spat, still laying on his side but gun at the ready as he fired shot after shot. Ardyn snarled and before he could get it in his head to go after Prompto I was coming at him from above, making sure to keep the line of fire open for my brother.

I ignited the blade of my sword and clashed it over and over again against the Scourge’s, forcing him back step after step, never giving him a chance to dodge or even move out of the way. It was thrilling to see apprehension in those black eyes for a change.

But it was always inevitable for the tide to change when someone was backed into a corner.

I was coming in for a stab to the chest when Ardyn roared, a shockwave of darkness exploding off of him with enough force to crack and break a majority of the marble walls and send me flying across the room into a pillar. I wheezed and carefully got my breath back, never once looking away from where Ardyn stood, waves of darkness pulsating off of him. He was well and truly furious, more than I’d ever seen him be.

My armiger burst into existence around me, circling tightly to protect me. “Prompto,” I called. “Get to the crystal and get the wall back up.”

“But, Noct!”

“Go, Prompto.”

The blond spluttered, but scrambled up from where he’d been flung in the explosion of darkness and sprinted into the darkened crystal room. With all obstacles and dangers removed, I felt a new focus settle over me, one that allowed me to see only Ardyn and see his every move. The second he twitched I was warping across the hall, slamming a blade down on his with everything I had. He held me back with a growl, using two hands that still trembled with the effort. Before I could crow at making him sweat, he flung me back and up into the air.

I arched my back and shifted my weight into a back flip, raising a hand to call a barrier that blocked the strike that would’ve skewered me. The barrier still shattered, but it gave me the moment I need to call another blade to hand and let gravity pull me back to Ardyn. I cast a Thundaga-Blizaga spell with one blade and brought the other one down to strike. The room exploded with light and frost, nearly blinding me.

Ardyn side-stepped my blow and lashed out his leg, kicking my chest. Again, I crashed into the wall. Only this time the wall gave way and I found myself falling through open air. I gasped and flailed, panic stealing my body for a moment. A moment was all Ardyn needed. He warped in a haze of purple and red before he cut my vision off by clamping a hand over my eyes and forehead. There was a heart-stopping second of increased speed before I was brutally slammed into the ground below. My head pounded, having took the brunt of the slam, and my body was no better. Vaguely, I heard the sounds of screams and sirens, but they fell second to the hand that still held my head.

“Poor little king,” Ardyn cooed venomously and I gritted my teeth, lashing out with an unfocused Fira spell that went everywhere. He left me, of course, rather than risk getting burned.

“Jester!” I roared, rolling to my feet and throwing out a hand to call my armiger. Power rolled off me visibly and I could feel the ghosts of my ancestors tensed and ready to fight. Around me, in the road just in front of the citadel, people scattered and screamed not only from our sudden appearance but what looked like the bombs I’d heard earlier.

The insane man cackled and raised his arms, his own red armiger, smaller in size than mine, glowed into being around him. “You wish to test your mettle?” he asked mockingly. “Against everything I’ve become?”

“The power of light against the power of darkness,” I snapped. “Do you really think you’re going to win?”

“I don’t know, Noct,” he drawled. “It does seem that you are _losing_ the light and I am _gaining_ the dark.” He tilted his head up to the dusky sky, well on its way to full darkness.

“Light shines even in the dark!” I yelled as I lunged forward, hand outstretched and launching my armiger at the man. He took to the air and I followed after him like a shot, leaning and twisting through the air, phasing through his fired armiger while launching mine back with every bit of viciousness I felt burning through my body.

Buildings and glass fell down around us as we fought, ricocheting around the city with enough speed to make even me wary in the back of my mind. But I had an advantage over him. I already knew how to fight like this and I knew his weaknesses. The unconscious holes he left in his defense, his inability to cover his back or feet immediately after a phase or warp. They were rare and well covered, but I knew them.

I was just pushing my advantage, gaining a foothold in this rapid, hair-raising fight when a large dark shadow seemed to loom on the horizon. I paused in my fight and looked in trepidation at the he daemons being ferried closer to the city via several airships. Now that I wasn’t so single-mindedly focused on Ardyn, I could tell that several airships had already landed in the city.

The wall still wasn’t up.

“Ah, yes. Here is your dilemma,” Ardyn purred as he dusted off the shoulder of his tattered and stained jacket. “Do you continue to pursue me? Or do you rush to your city’s defense? That is the question.” I glared at the man before looking back the rapidly approaching daemons and the MTs working through the streets. “What will it be, Noct?”

Ardyn was the main cause of all trouble and future trouble. To take care of him now and press my advantage would take care of the problem once and for all, but Insomnia was in danger. Her citizens running screaming in fear, her King in danger, and her very life threatened by the daemons. I savagely bit my lip before cursing and glaring at the smug looking man. He already knew my decision. “Another day, Ardyn.”

“Of course,” the man agreed easily before melting into shadows and dispersing everywhere. I growled at having my enemy escape and at the fact that I’d let him go. Shaking it off, I focused on the ring and reached down for that deep foundation in Insomnia just waiting to be called upon. I grabbed the foundation by both hands and pulled it, tugging it out of its slumber and into its duty.

I spun as several explosions occurred around the city all at once before grinning as hulking statutes of my ancestors stirred from their posts and came to life, stone breaking off to reveal gleaming metal underneath. I could recognize the famous Rogue Queen with her massive shuriken, the Tall King, and the Mystic King among others.

“Don’t let them enter the city,” I ordered through the ring, turning to face the approaching giant daemons. It was an even bigger drain to be funneling this much power from the crystal into the old wall, but I ignored it. There were other things to be concerned about like the MTs already in the city. The statues threw their weapons with obvious ease and speed despite their massive size and then warped after their weapons. I took a moment to be awed by them before cutting through the air down to where I could see a troop of MTs. In the back of my mind, I could sense and even see what the statues were doing as they caught the airships and daemons just outside the city and started ripping into them.

I landed on my feet just in front of a mother covering her child, my armiger blocking the hail of bullets easily. I glanced over my shoulder at the shocked mother and son before waving my hand further down the street. “Get to shelter. Don’t stop for anything.”

“Y-Yes, your Highness,” the woman stuttered before gathering her son more firmly in her arms. She flinched as I launched my armiger at the MTs, but still broke into a sprint for the war shelter I knew was somewhere at the end of the street.

The MTs were made short work of and I moved back into the air, searching for another squad of MTs or an airship to sabotage. As I did so, I lifted my comm device from where it was dangling by my neck and put it back in my ear, turning it back on.

“Ardyn got away,” I informed into the quiet channel, hoping my brothers were on the line. “I activated the old wall and I’m moving to take care of the MTs in the city.”

Gladio responded by completely and thoroughly cursing me out, citing reckless behavior and having no will to survive. I’d finished another squad by the time he finally ran out of air. “If you ever turn your comm off again I will strangle you,” he finally hissed.

I couldn’t help a grin, finding this very familiar behavior, though I hadn’t gotten this big of a reaction in a long time. “How are you guys doing?”

“We’re fine,” Ignis cut in, sounding affronted and offended, though if it was because of me going radio silent or Gladio’s cursing I didn’t know. “The king and princess are still here with us, along with Ravus and Iedolas. We’re heading to the garage to get them out of the city.”

“Well, I’m actually helping people evacuate,” Prompto announced. “Since I don’t know jack about a royal parking garage or whatever.”

“Are you alright on your own?” I asked.

“I’d feel much better hanging with you if that’s what you’re asking. I’m on 7th and Aurora.”

“I’ll come to you. We’re going MT hunting.”

“My favorite. By the way, those huge statues, are they you?”

“Yeah.”

“Fucking _awesome_.”

I laughed before cutting around a corner heading to Prompto’s location. I came at a running stop, jogging the rest of the way to where my friend was helping herd people down into the subway station. “You alright?” I asked, rocking with the floating sensation in my head. The Old Wall was really tearing into the Niflheim airships and the incoming titanic daemons, the frozen beasts slow to shake off their frost to fight back.

Prompto flashed a quick grin before spin and pulling the hammer back on his gun. The same instant he pulled the trigger and I called my armiger to my back, creating a shield. Three more gunshots and my friend spun his gun around his finger with a smirk before tucking it into his holster, not even bothering to dispel the weapon. “Damn I’m good,” he bragged and I shared a smile with him before going serious again.

“Listen, there are more MTs moving around the city and more coming. I guess the crystal wasn’t fixable?”

He shook his head grimly. “The entire console underneath was blown to bits. Last I checked there were people and guards working on it, so hopefully they can get it working again. Until then, you and your awesome statues are our only defense.”

“No pressure.”

“Hey, you can handle it, right? I can help too.” He bumped his shoulder with mine before breaking into a run. I turned and followed, coming even with his side as we began sweeping for MTs.

“Yeah. I got this. It’s minimizing damage and getting Ardyn that I’m worrying about.” I paused as I caught sight of a turned over motorcycle. “Hey. Over here.” We were in luck. The keys were still in the ignition from when the owner had fled in a hurry. “I’ll drive,” I said, throwing a leg over the purring bike. It was very sporty and black: just my style. I smiled as Prompto happily hopped onto the back and wrapped one arm around my waist, the other holding his gun up and ready.

The back tire slid as I gunned the accelerator before catching and we were off, racing through the city with much more satisfying speed. We came across a troop of actual human Imperial Troopers a few blocks away, gunning down fleeing citizens. I was deafened in my right ear by Prompto’s gun, but I pushed the sharp pain aside in favor of tightening my control on the bike and calling a pike to hand. “Hold on!” I shouted to Prompto before suddenly hitting the breaks and cutting the bike to the side. My reaching pike caught in the throat of one trooper and I let it go, already summoning another long sword. Prompto’s arm around my tightened, but he leaned with the bike as he turned and fired more shots. I actually had the bike spin in a complete circle with the momentum we still had and somehow managed not to crash when I bumped the back tire into the leg of another skewered Trooper. Prompto finished off the last Trooper before turning and yelling at the remaining citizens to get underground.

The entire confrontation lasted a total of three seconds.

My friend hooted and hugged my back. “Holy shit! That was fucking awesome, Noct! It was like…Like we were in a movie or something!”

“Just don’t fall off,” I called over the roar of the wind and engine. I leaned us around another tight corner, heading for a plaza that was a nice wide open place for landing airships. It was best to check there before moving on.

My guess was spot on. There was a total of three airships already landed and I took us wide and fast around the plaza, jumping the curbs and winding around the benches and tables with one hand, extending the other to gather a massive fire spell in hand. Prompto was picking off the Troopers heading for us when I released my first spell. The airship went up in a flaming ball, taking out a few more Troopers.

I was preparing a second spell, warily watching the path in front of the motorcycle, when I felt a sudden burning heat in my mind. It was quickly followed by a gaping hole and I knew one of the statues had fallen in a fiery explosion caused by a daemon’s death. The other statues were working on the two other daemons, crashing the airships holding them.

My brief distraction nearly got us killed. I swerved around a stone bench, biting my lip as Prompto clung to me for dear life, shouting a curse. I quickly regained control before throwing one hand up into the air, charging the sky above me with magic until it was overflowing, sparking in a matter of seconds. Prompto was just aiming again when a hell-rain of lightning poured down from the heavens, tearing up everything in the plaza with the exception of us.

I braked hard and stumbled to prop the bike up before leaning over the handle bars, breathing hard. Prompto squeezed my shoulder. “Noct? You okay?”

I nodded and squeezed my eyes shut, stomach swimming with all the secondary distracting thoughts and senses in my head from the Old Wall. Added to calling down a lightning storm Ramuh would’ve been impressed with it was a bit much for a second. “Yeah. Just needed a second.”

“Should I drive?”

“I’m good, Prom,” I assured him, patting the hand on my shoulder. “One of the Old Wall fell and I got distracted.”

“Damn. They took down one of those guys?” Prompto whistled as I got the bike moving again, maneuvering around the burning wreckage of the plaza and back onto the streets. It looked especially destroyed with it being full night, letting the embers and fires give a hellish glow. “How many are left?”

I didn’t know which group he was talking about so I gave him both answers. “Four of the Old Wall and two daemons.”

“Oh. We got it in the bag then.”

I nodded shortly and mentally commanded the Old Wall to deal the death blows from a distance. It would suck if I lost more of them.

“Hey, you think with the Emperor caught and the daemons dead that the Nifs’ll retreat?”

“Maybe,” I answered. “It depends on Ardyn.”

“Right. Creepy guy who wants to end the world. Does he know about you? You know, the whole time tra-HOLY SHIT LOOK OUT!”

I saw it at the same moment Prompto did, but I still wasn’t able to get out of the way in time. I yanked on the brake and attempted to swerve out of the way, but a flaming claw still caught the bike and sent us flying. I flailed, struggling to reorient myself, before catching sight of Prompto. With a focus point, I did a quick warp, wrapped my arms around the blond, and warped again. The distance was much shorter and more of a drain with a passenger, but I managed. My friend promptly lost his lunch, rolling over to his hands and knees to puke, while I turned and sized up our enemy. It was a cereberus. A pack of them.

I cursed and summoned my armiger while reaching down to tug Prompto to his feet. “Prompto! Get up we’ve got to get out of here!” The sick blond turned and blearily looked behind him to see what had me so panicked and he quickly joined me in panic. He scrambled to his feet, booking it in any direction that wasn’t behind us.

We never had a chance in outrunning them. I dragged Prompto back and down to the ground not even a second later as one giant beast sailed over our heads in an attempt to pounce on us. I lifted a hand and cast a quick freeze spell on the flaming daemon before turning and casting a barrier with the other, just barely stopping the flaming jaws from snapping at us.

Vaguely, I could hear Prompto calling frantically for help over our comm line but I was focusing too hard, mentally calling on of the Old Wall to us. I grimaced as the daemons slammed and dug at my barrier and it took all of my concentration to keep it going as we waited.

It felt like an eternity and a half, but finally there was a massive cracking sound and an even larger shuriken spun through the air around my barrier, easily cutting through and killing the cereberus pack. I dropped the barrier with a huge sigh and reached into one of my pouches, pulling out an elixir.

The statue of the Rogue Queen took a moment to nod down at me before throwing her weapon again, warping back to battle.

“Uh…” Prompto groaned from behind me and I turned to see him staring at where the Rogue Queen had been a moment ago. “Never mind on that backup.”

I lifted hand to my own comm, squeezing the elixir with the other. “We’re good, guys,” I reported. “Just got stuck for a minute.”

“Stuck?” Gladio repeated incredulous. “Prompto was screaming like a little girl scared for his life. I don’t know who is overreacting or making an understatement.”

“It’s Noct,” Prompto rushed to weigh in. “It is definitely Noct. Understatement of the century. Oh, boy. I need a change of underwear.” The surprised a snort of laughter out of me and I tried to smother it. Gladio was already roaring with laughter and Ignis was muttering about something or other.

Ignis cleared his throat. “Your Highness, his Majesty wishes for me to inform you that we’re in our cars and on our way out of the city. And to remind you not to do anything reckless.”

“I wish to second that,” Luna said in the background, her voice quiet but still reaching mine.

“Understood,” I replied in good humor. “This should be over soon. Only one more daemon to go and then I’ll move the Old Wall to keep any and all airships out of the city. After that, it’s just Ardyn and getting through the night.”

“We’ll head your way as soon as we get the king, the princess, Iedolas, and Ravus secured,” Gladio promised. “Will you two be okay until we get back to you?”

Prompto and I shared a look. “Puh-lease,” the blond scoffed.

“If anything, you’ll ruin the party,” I added. “We’ve got this.”

“Cocky little shits,” Gladio muttered, though it was a touch fond.

Ignis harrumphed. “Noct, the Crownsguards are currently gathering in the citadel and the Crystal towers, defending everyone there. If you need back up or a place to go, go to them. They’re on channel five.”

I nodded. “Got it.” A sudden shout had me gasping and turning to face the direction of the voice only to relax as I saw the dark uniforms flowing over the destruction in the street. “Wait. Shit. Prompto, those are ‘Glaives!” I barely got my sword up in time to deflect a thrown blade and snarled as I found myself locking weapons after the warrior warped. “Traitors,” I spat and shoved him back.

“False king,” the man snarled back just as the rest joined the fight.

I’d fought Ardyn before, I’d fought someone who could warp and fight like me, but fighting against several trained people who could do the same? It was near impossible to keep up as eight or nine of them swarmed Prompto and I. “Dad!” I shouted, slapping a hand to my ear to turn my mic on. “Cut the ‘Glaives out! Cut their magic!” I gasped and twitched violently as a knife sliced across my side before Prompto’s strangled yell caught my attention.

I looked over just in time to see him on his back, a ‘Glaive bearing down on him with a knife. “Prompto!” I yelled, unthinkingly throwing my sword at the ‘Glaive. I didn’t realize my mistake until I saw light gleam on metal. Metal heading straight for me.

I had no time to call my armiger or move. Time slowed down enough that I could see that dark blade with a silver edge turn end over end while Prompto and I could only watch in horror. I gasped as the knife buried itself in my chest, igniting an unforgiving fire of agony in my body. My mind blanked out as someone warped to their knife, pushing it deeper into my chest.

Blood spurted from my mouth and I grabbed at the man in front of me, not comprehending what had just happened. There was screaming, shouts, ringing. Pain.

Gods, it hurt.

Vaguely, I can feel my body hitting the ground, my head bouncing and making the world spin. I shut my eyes against the dizziness and try to breathe, but it’s like I’m drowning. My heart races, I can feel my heartbeat throbbing in my entire body, hear it over the cotton suddenly stuffed in my ears, and it made the pain worse. Lifting a shaking hand, I tried to put out the fire in my chest, but all I felt was warm liquid. A glance through fuzzy vision showed a dark liquid that gleamed red in the faint light. Blood.

Prompto was screaming. My name, curses, pleas. It momentarily distracted me from the fire in my chest and the liquid pooling under my shoulders and over my chest. I struggle to focus. My friend is fighting, writhing like a man possessed and never looking away from me as other dark figures forced him to his knees and then to the ground. I try to call his name, but all that leaves my mouth is more blood.

In the back of my head, it’s almost like a riot. The wise whispers of the kings were raised in outrage and horror, the Six shouting in their echoing-rasping language while shifting and moving their massive presences, and the Old Wall moving frantically.

A weird floating feeling overcame me and it was both comforting and disconcerting. The pain was distant, but something was wrong. I didn’t want this. I didn’t want to close my eyes. I didn’t want to lose feeling even if it meant leaving the pain. I didn’t want to not hear the sounds around me. I didn’t want this. I didn’t.

“ _You fools!_ ” A surprised scream tickled at the edge of my fading hearing. “ _I said keep him alive!_ ” Broken words, rushed, begging? “ _You caused this. You will fix this. Just a moment, Noct. Just a moment longer._ ”

Who…?

Then it was like a…hand came and wrapped around me. Much like how Ramuh or Titan would pick me up when I summoned them to spare me from their attacks. It wrapped around me and pulled. Pulled me…back. I don’t know where I was, but I knew I was being pulled back to where I wanted to be.

The shadows retreated from my vision and the cotton was thinned around my ears. I gasped some much-needed air and never tasted or smelled anything so sweet. My head spun in a completely different manner than before and I relaxed into it, letting my senses recalibrate and the fire in my chest be drained away. The gasping chokes of pain caught my attention, but nothing short of Prompto screaming was going to drag me away from just _breathing_ for a few minutes.

The fire in my chest disappeared completely and there was an odd tightness in the middle of my chest and back for a moment before that too was gone, leaving me feeling cold and drained.

“There we are, Noct,” the voice from before murmured and I groaned faintly as an arm slid under my shoulders and lifted me into a sitting position, leaning against a warm chest. “Easy does it. Just breathe and rest.” I sank gratefully into the warm chest, suddenly feeling so tired. Over the heartbeat that was lulling me to sleep, I heard and felt the low chuckle, followed by a hand through my hair. “Take your moment, young prince. I still have need of you. Now more than ever since I believe you to be the source of the disturbance in the veil of time. Did you travel through time, dear Noct? Did you come from the future? What did you see?”

“Get away from him, you creep!” I twitched at the second voice, angry and frantic, intruding in on the peace the smooth and calm voice was placing me under.

The hand pet through my hair, shushing me. “Did you fail in the future, little prince? Is that why you came back?”

“Noctis!”

The chest under my head rose and fell in a sigh. “It seems that your moment is up, Noct. It is time to get back to work I’m afraid.” The hand supporting my shoulders slid up to the back of my neck, carefully supporting my head as I was laid back down again. I frowned slightly, wondering why my rest was being disturbed. Another deep chuckle and a hand covering my closed eyes. “Hurry, Noct. Or I will leave with that which you hold most dear.” And then the presence of the man was gone.

“Noct! Noctis! Buddy, come on, open your eyes!”

It was a task and a half, but the rapid shaking of the hands on my shoulders was helping me along. As well as the sharp shriek of tires on asphalt. I blinked slowly, taking in the muted gold in shadows topping gleaming blue. “Prom?” I mumbled and suddenly crushed in a hug.

I was still trying to figure out what was going on when car doors slammed shut nearby, followed by more shouts.

“Let me see him!” an older voice barked. “Let me see my son!” Prompto was suddenly gone and I found myself swaying where I sat. I refocused in time to see my dad’s cane hit the ground and my dad drop to his knees in front of me. “Where are you hurt?” I frowned at the question and my shoulders were grabbed again. “Noctis, where are you hurt?!”

“I don’t know,” I blurted, feeling alarmed at the desperation my dad was showing. I reached up with trembling hands and placed them over his. “I…feel fine. Tired. Dizzy. But fine.”

“With how much blood your sitting in you must be suffering from blood loss,” a cultured voice cut in and I found a hand yanking the zipper of my high-collared leather jacket down and yanking the tank top up to expose my blood-stained chest.

The memory of the knife in my chest and the traitors came back in an instant and I cautiously touched a hand to the brand new pink scar in the middle of my chest. “I was stabbed,” I murmured, poking the spot. “I know I was stabbed.”

“Ardyn did something,” Prompto explained, or tried to. When I turned to him he pointed to the body of a ‘Glaive. “It looks like he transferred the wound. It looks like it’s in the same place where Noct’s was.”

“That was Ardyn?” I asked in confusion, remembering the smooth voice vaguely and the warm chest I’d rested on. “Why would he save me?”

My dad sighed and drew me in for a hug, running a hand through my hair. For a moment, I remembered the other hand—Ardyn’s hand—doing the same thing. “I don’t know and I don’t care. I thought you were dead, Noctis.”

“Thank the stars you are alright,” a female voice murmured and I looked up to see Luna standing between a looming Nyx and Gladio, looking pale but very relieved. 

I gave a wane smile before digging around in my pouches for a potion, shaking slightly from the weakness in my body. Whether it was from lingering shock of the injury or the blood loss, I didn’t know, but I hoped it would be cured by a potion. “Since the stars are the ones to curse him to begin with, I think we should be thanking Ardyn’s scheming instead. He’s not done with me yet.” I squeezed and cracked the potion in one hand before attempting to get to my feet, grimacing at the blood dropping and clinging to my jacket and shirt. It was still morbidly warm. “I thought you guys were trying to get out of the city.”

“We got distracted by you dying,” Gladio drawled as if it was my fault.

I rolled my eyes and glanced around before turning in the direction of the Old Wall. “Sorry to inconvenience you. I kind of had a sword in my chest.” I tilted my head to the side and considered what I was seeing from the Old Wall. “The last daemon is down,” I announced a second before there was an enormous far off explosion, signaling the daemon’s death. “I’m going to direct the Old Wall after any airships, both in and out.” I tsked slightly before moving to get up. Downing airships wouldn’t stop Ardyn from leaving, though. Multiple hands appeared and helped me up and I felt flustered for a second, a little alarmed by the sheer number of them. “Thanks,” I mumbled, finding my balance after another second.

“It’s not safe out here in the open,” Ulric announced, tossing a kukris up and down as he stared at one of the bodies of the ‘Glaive. “We need to get to a more secure location.”

“The citadel?” Ignis suggested. “Or the towers? I think leaving the city would be unwise at this point.”

I let them talk about the next move and instead tried to get into Ardyn’s twisted mind. If I didn’t hurry, he would take that which I hold most dear. But that didn’t make sense. Everyone I held dear was right here in front of me. The crystal wasn’t that important since I could still draw magic from any distance and the city was mostly defended at this point.

So what was he planning to do?

It was in that moment I felt a sharp yank. The Six exploded in loud exclamations and growls. Ifrit snarled something in the tongue of the gods and the yank came again, from him. Around him.

Someone was trying to summon Ifrit.

I tightened my hold on the covenant. Ardyn had summoned Ifrit once before. I wouldn’t let him do it again now that the covenant was in place.

I shuddered as I felt the pure darkness and rage seeming to seep in through the covenant. Ardyn was _pissed_.

“Noctis?” I twitched at the hand on my shoulder and refocused to see my dad peering at me worriedly. “Are you okay?”

I nodded and gave a quick smirk. “Ardyn is trying to summon Ifrit. I’m not letting him.” I cocked my head to the side, unseeing as I observed the seething anger and irritation Ifrit felt at the attempted summoning. “Or maybe I should.” I sent a wordless query in the Betrayer’s direction and the ancient being paused for a moment in his disdain before I received grudging acceptance. My lips curled up into a smirk. “If Ardyn wants Ifrit so bad, he can have him,” I muttered, gathering my magic around me until it glowed and writhed like an ethereal fire. I lifted a hand. “Ifrit, the Infernian, I call upon our covenant. Come forth,” I called and suddenly the dark of night was being pushed back, heat and light exploding onto the scene as Ifrit came into existence, lounging on his throne of fire and ash. I gasped as the strength suddenly drained out of my body, dropping me to my knees, but it was worth it to see the Infernian looking around the city with dark eyes.

“The covenant,” a quiet voice murmured by my side and I turned to see Luna looking at me in curiosity. “You have the covenant and yet I was not the one to give it to you,” she observed.

I dropped my hand and dug into one of my pouches for an ether. “I’ll explain once we’re all safe,” I offered, watching as Ifrit rose from his throne, his head unerringly looking towards a building. Between one second and the next, the building he was looking exploded in flames and ruin and I almost wanted to think Ardyn was dead because of that.

But the Starscourge himself appeared not too far from our group, eyes and cheeks black with pitch and rage. “So you have formed your precious covenant as well, Noct,” he sneered. “How annoying. Perhaps you’ll like my present.” Behind him, portals of black energy sprung into existence and I tsked as high-level daemons started pouring out. Red Giants, Jabberwocks, Behemoth Kings, Cerebuses.

Any one of these daemons would be difficult to defeat by themselves and I didn’t have the advantage of having my brothers, who had been with me through every fight and every challenge and had become as strong if not stronger than me, at my back. I wasn’t even sure if Nyx, a seasoned and experienced Kingsglaive, could help in this fight and my dad was past his prime and Luna, while a powerful Oracle, wasn’t up to a full-fledged fight.

I felt anger and a curl of desperation grow in me as I called a weapon to my hand. “Gladio, Ignis, Prompto, get Luna and my dad out of here,” I ordered, glancing over at where Ifrit was standing to the side, glaring contemptuously down at the gathering between him and me.

“Still so concerned for those who do not matter in the end,” Ardyn sneered and in the next instant he was in front of me, his own sword coming down to crash against mine. “You should really be concerned about yourself, Noct.”

“Shut up!” I roared, tensing and throwing him back with a sweep of my blade. He smirked and landed with inhuman grace among the prowling and snarling daemons. “Ifrit!” I yelled and the Infernian snarled, but obeyed after making his displeasure known. A wave of flames swept through the rear of the gathering of daemons, bringing some of their attention to him.

But some still lingered on us and the attack goaded them into moving. I gritted my teeth before removing my right hand from my sword. This was a terrible spell to do in the beginning of a battle, but I needed to by time for my friends. Alterna began to glow and gather around my hand as I stared down the charging daemons. I could feel hands tugging and pulling at my clothes, voices yelling and begging me to move, but I ignored them as all of my focus came to a single point behind my enemies.

With a snap, I teleported, my senses blurring as I tapped into that dimension of nothingness before reappearing in the real world. A crack resounded through the air, the tear in the fabric is space and time I’d done with a mere tap rending through the air until it bled black and red. Along with the crack I felt the familiar bone deep drain on my magical reserves, but I didn’t mourn them or panic. It was normal and my levels would be back to normal in a moment. Instead, I turned my attention to blocking the claws of a Jabberwock that had gotten too close too fast. I held under the massive strength in the daemon, watching as the physical forms of the Jabberwock and all the daemons who had been too close to me warped and slimmed down, stretching as they were dragged into that dimension of nothingness.

An explosion of light and sound, leaving red tendrils of magic trailing through the air, and suddenly a good dozen of the daemons were gone.

I reaffirmed my grip on my sword, ignoring the superficial gray cracking on the skin of my hand from using the ring before looking over my shoulder. Later I would realize that they were staring in shock and awe at my sudden show of power, but now I was too busy and desperate to get them away to notice. “Go! Run!” I shouted. I turned to face forward again, grim and looking for my next opponent to take on.

This would be new. Never before had I been left entirely on my own to fight. Never before Ardyn at least. And I was intimidated and wary of this veritable army of dangerous daemons and Ardyn before me. Still, there was no other choice.

With a shout, I charged forward, leaping up as I swung my sword behind me. I let my weapon’s weight flip me over and I tucked in tight, gaining more speed as I came down on a Cerebus’ shoulder, cutting a decent cut that splattered me in blood. In the next instant I was spinning, calling my spear to hand and whipping the spear around my shoulders to build momentum. A Behemoth King roared and recoiled as I cut deep into his throat. I jumped, planting my foot on its horn, and used its tossing head to throw me deeper into the fight. I reached into my pouch and drew out an elemency flask, the ice biting at my fingers as I threw it with long practice at where I was going to land. A great sword came to hand this time and I dipped into my recovering magical reserves and warped down with a roar at the balking Cerebus and struggling Red Giant. The Red Giant crashed to the ground in a clatter, the concrete shattering under its massive weight and the force of my blow. Instincts and long battle experience had me phasing and stepping aside and through the swiping paw of the infuriated Cerebus. My sword came up and the ring on my finger flickered in white a second before I dealt a counter blow, Holy lashing out and intensifying my attack. The Cerebus fell back with a roar, its paw completely gone. A Jabberwock moved to pounce on me in the next instant and I was already moving, gone from that area.

I wasn’t strong like Gladio, precise like Prompto, or strategic like Ignis. I wasn’t like any of them nor did I have their talents, but I was fast with an ocean of magic at my disposal. I may not be able to throw a Behemoth across a field like Gladio or aim for the smallest chinks in armor like Prompto or take a look at an enemy and instantly know their weaknesses like Ignis, but I could make my opponents’ head spin trying to keep track of me and the very ground tremble with the magic at my beck and call.

Warping in a rapid barrage of attacks, I crippled another daemon, its blood burning where it landed on my skin. Vaguely I could hear and feel the heat of Ifrit’s attacks and I felt his grim glee as he fought. My feet barely touched the ground before I was throwing daggers, launching myself at yet another daemon. There were so many I could barely keep track of the ones I’d faced before or if I’d managed to actually fell some. In the back of my mind I could feel the Old Wall moving and hunting down air ships and I gave a fleeting thought to calling one of them before a Jabberwock’s tail came out of nowhere and slammed into my side.

I gasped as I was flung through the air, crashing and skidding along the concrete ground before rolling to the side and to my feet, a long blade coming to hand as I blindly searched for either an attacking enemy or an enemy to attack.

There was a flash of red and I was preparing to warp out of the way of the fire attack from a Cerebus when white appeared in my vision and I froze, staring as a shield of translucent gold appeared and blocked the roaring fire. “Luna!” I exclaimed, shocked.

My fiancée, the love of my life, turned and looked at me with hard eyes that glowed with determination. “Noctis, you have my trident, do you not?” I nodded dumbly and she held out her hand. “If you would be so kind.” A part of me was in awe that she was so calm and collected even with so many daemons coming down on us, but there was never any hesitation in me. Her look and demeanor wouldn’t let me refuse her.

Barely a thought and it materialized in all its golden glory, hovering just at her side. With a deftness I didn’t know she possessed, Luna snatched the weapon from the air and twirled it around her hands before slamming the butt of the weapon into the ground, sending an explosion of golden energy out. It felt warm and clean when it washed over me, but the daemons it touched screeched and roared, rearing back as if burned.

“You have to get out of here,” I urged as I got my senses back and got over the shock. “It’s not safe.” I stood by her side and lifted my hand as I focused on the ring, calling Death and draining the Cerebus who had tried to roast me.

“I am not leaving your side, Noctis,” she said, her voice strong and clear and calm as always. She felt like the eye of a storm, a force of nature but inherently placid. “It would only waste time and energy if you tried to convince me otherwise.”

“Yeah, what the hell, Noct?!” someone roared and I broke off Death to snap my head around to see Gladio holding off a Behemoth King’s attack. There was barely a second before I stepped into a warp and was at his side, crashing my sword next to his and adding my strength to his. “You try and go off on your own and think we’re just going to allow it?!” my Shield demanded in a full-on rage that would’ve had me balking in fear any other time. I heard the familiar crack of gunfire behind me before the Behemoth King flinched back, his eyes suddenly gone. It howled and pawed at its face and Gladio didn’t waste a moment, pulling his great sword over his shoulder and sweeping in for a devastating series of attacks. Blood spurted as he nicked an artery and bone gleamed for a moment. “Ignis!” my Shield called as I turned, pulling another elemency flask out of my pouch. Electricity and fire stung my fingertips before I lobbed it back towards where Luna was raising a shield and sending off golden magic attack that reminded me of Holy.

I flinched when something hit my upper back and spun instinctively phased, raising my blade to attack whoever snuck up on me, but the sight of Ignis in the fire-light dark stopped my motion. It was only then that I realized I was feeling the effects of a potion tingling across my skin. My advisor had crudely cracked a potion against my back.

“Apologies,” Ignis offered as he crouched, his eyes darting around quickly. “This is a rather bad situation.”

I tsked when I realized none of them had gone when I’d ordered them too, but a part of me relaxed too. Even if they were not match—who was I kidding I barely stood a chance in this fight as it was—it soothed a part of me to know I had people fighting with me. “Where’s dad? And Nyx?”

“By Lady Lunafreya,” he answered tersely. “Noct, can you do that spell again? The one you started with?”

I gritted my teeth before grabbing onto Ignis and warping the both of us a short distance away from a lunging Jabberwock. This time I phased through the claws, letting Holy zap through me and explode over the Jabberwork in white fire. Ignis was right there, his daggers flashing dangerously in the low light before there was an explosion of electricity, the backlash of which got us faintly. I was opening my mouth to demand what the hell was wrong with Ignis before I remembered Ignis hadn’t yet worked out split second elemency casts that didn’t effect himself and the group.

“Noct!” Ignis called, yanking me out of my brief confusion and stuttering thoughts. “Your spell. Can you do it?”

“Yes!” I snapped back. “But it’ll take a minute and I need cover.”

He nodded firmly before looking over his shoulder. “Gladio! Prompto! To me!”

“Duck!” I ordered and he hit the ground in an instant, my spear whistling overheard and jabbing right into the yawning maw of one of the Cerebus’ heads. I winced at the wash of heat and fire but took the moment the Cerebus gave me by rearing back to dig for an elemency flask that burned with ice. It flew in a neat arc into one of the Cerebus’ mouth and it whined as it stuttered and slowly froze in place. Instinct had me lunging forward with every ounce of speed and strength I had, moving to take advantage of an opportunity.

A battle axe flew into the air above the Cerebus and I warped to it, shouting a battle cry as I flipped and brought everything I had down on one head of the daemon. The ice shattered under my attack, the daemon whimpering as it fell. Gladio’s familiar yell reached my ears a moment before he was there, sweeping his blade towards the downed and vulnerable Cerebus. I warped off the daemon before I could fall off of it with the force of my Shield’s attack sending it skidding a fair distance. It was still vulnerable.

“Prompto!” I yelled.

My friend’s hysterical cackle came from just behind me. “Hello there, opening!” he chirped before his gun’s loud retort rang in the air. The Cerebus gave jolt and a growl as I warped closer, throwing my sword at the blooming red spot Prompto’s bullet had marked, Ignis’s daggers also clustering around the spot where he had thrown them from a distance. The daemon gave one last whine before going limp, dissolving into shadow and Scourge.

I had to stare a moment. My brothers had been able to hold their own and even defeat that Cerebus. Maybe they weren’t in danger and needed to run. Maybe…Maybe I just needed to give them the openings and advantages they needed.

“What’s going on, Ignis?” Prompto called, clapping me on the shoulder. “Noct, this is crazy. Absolutely crazy.”

“Tell me about it,” I muttered.

“We need to give Noct cover,” Ignis informed Prompto and Gladio as the older men joined us. “Noct, can you still do that spell?”

I raised my hand and gathered all of my focus and magical reserves. “Doing it now!”

“Cover!” Gladio yelled as he moved forward to intercept a lumbering Red Giant.

I tuned out my brothers and instead visually marked the daemons I wanted gone for good. Sweat was pouring down my temples, my body throbbing with the strain as I forced myself to stretch my abilities and mark more than half as much as I normally would. With a snap, I teleported to the dimension and back, tearing space and time apart.

I gasped as I returned, collapsing to my hands and knees as black edged around my vision. My ears were ringing, but through it I heard the crack and explosion of Alterna working. A hand clamped onto my shoulder strongly and I tilted my head just enough to see Ignis looking at me with wide frightened eyes.

“Noct, are you okay?!” he demanded and I nodded faintly, one hand fumbling for a pouch in search of an ether. Some part of me grimly realized it was my last ether and while I did still have high-ethers I was reluctant to use them unless absolutely necessary.

“Fine,” I rasped lowly as I broke the bottle and let its restorative properties sweep through me. Ignis’ hands were firm as he helped me back to my feet until I stood on my own. I took another look around the torn-up battlefield. It used to be an intersection and connecting streets with buildings, but now it was mostly rubble.

Most of the daemons were taken care of now and weren’t as much of a threat since Ifrit had taken it upon himself to stand over the still active portals the daemons would come through, stomping and burning on what he probably viewed as insects.

I glanced around, taking in the sight of Luna and dad tag-teaming a Jabberwock with Nyx distracting and keeping the daemon off balance, the few lingering daemons that had been warned off and were now wary after we’d rebuffed most of them.

Ardyn was nowhere in sight. Had he escaped? But he was so angry. He wouldn’t leave without a parting shot at me. So what game was he going to start now?

I scanned the battlefield again, twirling my sword in hand, before looking back to Luna, my dad, and Nyx. They’d finished off their daemon and we turning to welcome whoever was approaching them. I frowned at the slight figure, squinting to try to see who it was. It could almost look like Prompto with that body figure, but there was no startling blond hair. The person was wearing too much black.

I was about to ask Ignis what he thought about it when a flash of fire from Ifrit’s attack illuminated the area enough for me to finally see who it was. I felt the blood drain from my face, my hand trembling around my sword, watching as the figure held out a hand to the side. He was reaching for a weapon. I tensed, drawing back my arm, and threw my sword across the space.

I roared a battle cry as I fell out of my warp, crashing into the chest of the invader and taking him to the ground.

My own face looked at me startled and shocked.

“Enough games, Ardyn,” I snarled as I slammed a punch into his jaw and then raised my sword above my head, ready to deal a death blow.

He bucked me off and stared at me with wide eyes. “What do you think you’re doing?”

I curled my lip distastefully, calling a second sword to hand and settling into a battle stance. My allies gathered together, talking loudly and trying to figure out what was going on. “Enough mind games,” I spat, warping as easily as I breathed and slamming my blade down. It was caught and it held. I glared hate and spite into my very own face. “Even if you wear my face, I’ll kill you. I won’t be tricked!” I spun and swung a kick up and nailed him in the chest, making him stagger. Another warp and he parried my blade expertly. 

“It’s not me you want to fight,” my look-a-like gritted out as we spun and traded rapid blows. “Noctis, focus!” It was so strange hearing my own voice and seeing myself talk like I was looking in a mirror and yet knowing it wasn’t me.

“Shut up,” I growled, hate and fury burning like Ifrit’s flames in my chest. I would end this. I wouldn’t let him get any closer to the people I loved. I kicked out his knee. My enemy fell with a grunt before flying back when I landed a strong kick on his chest. I warped to him and braced a foot on his chest, lowering the point of my sword to his throat. My own wide eyes stared up at me, squirming until I pressed harder on my foot. “It’s over, Ardyn.”

“Finish it, Noct,” I heard my father say as he steadily came to walk up behind me. “End this nightmare. Let’s go home.”

I firmed my hand, lifting my blade to deal the last blow. The body under my boot stilled and blue eyes locked onto mine, demanding I hold his gaze. “Walk tall,” he said and my attack halted mid-movement. I stared down at the wheezing figure only inches from death at my hand. “W-Walk tall. The t-tapestry. W-Welcome home, my s-son.”

It felt like Shiva herself breathed a blizzard over my soul. No. It couldn’t be. It felt like time itself slowed down as I turned to look over my shoulder where my dad had joined me. A grotesque poisonous smirk stretched across my dad’s lips.

Only that wasn’t my dad.

My sword was barely moving from the body under my boot when my ‘dad’ lashed out, a red sword in hand and laying open my back. I screamed, pain ripping through my body as I fell forward, just above when I’d pinned my former enemy to the ground.

“Noctis!” my former enemy cried, the visage of myself melting away and leaving my dad’s bruised and battered form behind. He turned and reached for me, but my eyes were solely on the towering figure of Ardyn, the façade of my father falling away like oil.

How could I fall for that again? How stupid…

I cried out as I lunged from where I’d fallen, throwing myself over my dad as Ardyn struck down at him. My armiger cracked and solidified over my back, blocking the blow but not the contemptuous chuckle coming from the Accursed.

“You were so determined,” he mused, backing away from me and twirling his sword. I glared balefully up at him, vaguely aware of my dad frantically pushing me off of him. I attempted to get to my feet, but my back lit up in agony, keeping me on my knees. This wound burned at me, so much like the one that crippled me as a child. “So very sure that it was me in front of you,” Ardyn continued with a smirk. “It is only due to your father’s quick thinking that you did not feel the desolation and horror I was looking forward to seeing. Such a disappointment.”

“Jester,” I spat, shaking in either shock or rage. It was probably rage given the red tint in my vision.

“Ah, yes. Your name for me. Did you like my show? You seemed…consumed with it.” He chortled, his own armiger coming up to fend off the attacks of my allies with barely any attention. “Would His Majesty care to see my final act? Consider it an encore.” He gave a mock bow as I finally managed to get to my feet, my dad supporting my side as he poured warm healing magic into my back.

Before I could think of a reply, a curse, a spell, anything at all, Ardyn turned and flicked a hand, his armiger attacking and scattering my friends. All except one.

Luna stood stoic and firm at the approaching Starscourge, her body glowing with ethereal golden light. “That’s far enough, Lost King,” she ordered, tapping her trident and washing the area with more golden magic.

“Oh, my dear, I’m afraid I have too much to do,” Ardyn purred and I stumbled forward.

“Ardyn, get away from her!” I yelled, forcing my body to stay upright.

“And you are the first obstacle in my way,” he continued as if he didn’t hear me, never slowing in his pace to reach her.

Terror flooded me, memories overlapping. “Luna!” I screamed, stumbling and catching myself on the ground. No, I couldn’t watch again. I couldn’t stand by and let her go! “Luna, move!” But she didn’t. She didn’t move. Ardyn didn’t stop. I raw cry of horror left me as Ardyn pulled his hand from his coat, a long dark knife gleaming in the light Luna was giving off. “ _No!_ ” My armiger exploded into existence again, speeding forward as I warped the distance, begging and pleading with the gods to let me be in time.

To let me save her.

I came out of warp mid-step, my arm up and catching Luna around her neck and the other lifting to push Ardyn’s blade away. Luna fell to the ground with a muffled cry of pain and I winced at the line of fire Ardyn’s blade drew across my side, but I was already reacting, twisting and tangling my limbs around his body, wrenching his body off balance. He managed to move and throw me off of him and I scrambled to my feet, adrenalin and desperation pushing any pain or exhaustion aside.

“Don’t touch her!” I yelled. “Don’t touch any of them! This is a battle of kings, Ardyn,” I growled, quoting his words and hoping to incite that deranged and arrogant opponent that had nearly been my end. My armiger spun quickly in agitation around me. “No one else.”

Ardyn got to his feet leisure, his armiger shimmering into existence as well. “Indeed it is. Tell me, Noct. Did you fail? Is that why you came back? Did I win?” he simpered, black teeth smiling disgustingly.

I huffed, letting my magic saturate the air, lifting me off the ground. “No, Ardyn. I gave you peace forevermore. You lost.”

“Lies!” the Starscourge spat like venom, rising like I was. “You wouldn’t have come back if you did!”

I shook my head. “I don’t know why I’m here, but it looks like the gods aren’t done with us yet.”

“They never will be.” Ardyn came at me and I dodged, waving my hand and sending a barrage of my blades at the man. He snarled and blocked, returning the favor. Air and space rushed around me as I locked into the familiar battle of armigers and weapons of old, magic crackling and snapping in the air around us as we collided over and over again, streaking across the sky like the stars themselves were fighting.

I was so focused on Ardyn and those blood red swords of his, when white streaked across my vision. For a split second, I thought it was Luna again, stepping in to defend me, but I quickly shook the thought. We were currently hundreds of feet above even the tallest of Insomnia’s skyscrapers. Luna couldn’t get up here, but the streaks of white kept coming, a rain of holy light that had Ardyn backing away and struggling to ward them off. Seeing an advantage, I pursued it, swinging and curving my armiger around to Ardyn’s unprotected back. His inhuman howl rang across the night sky at the dual strike hitting him with devastating effect before circling his armiger close, fending off the attacks better as he focused solely on defense.

Only then did I dare to look at the source of the white weapons. My eyes widened. “Dad,” I murmured, my dad gliding to my side with his white armiger circling him protectively unlike mine that was ranged around and ready to be launched. “What are you…”

“I believe you said this was a battle of kings,” he answered wryly, glancing at me out of the corner of his eye. “And I do believe I fit that criteria.”

“Meddling old man,” Ardyn snarled, relaxing his defense now that we had stopped our offense. “This is not your fight!”

My dad’s eyes narrowed dangerously. “This is my son you are fighting. His fights have always been and always will be mine. I will be by his side always.” I stared at my dad, honored and humbled beyond all words.

“You will die by his side,” Ardyn growled, his armiger rattling. “Your blood will be on his hands.”

“Not happening,” I growled, turning and lifting one hand, my armiger flaring and quivering to be launched and thrown into battle. My dad mimicked my stance, his back to mine and his ghostly weapons mingling among my own. We stood together in the pitch-black night sky, the only light to see being our very own, against the one enemy that even the gods didn’t know how to truly handle.

We stood together and nothing would tear us apart.

Ardyn screamed hoarsely as the battle renewed, light blue, holy white, and blood red lash across the sky, clashing together in bright explosions and ringing metal. It became obvious that I was the more offensively-inclined when compared to my dad, his armiger acting more in defense and in counterattacks when I gave an opening, but the way we moved and worked together had my blood singing.

We could do this. We could actually win.

And we did.

Ardyn fell like the fallen star he was, crashing into the ground as my dad and I followed him quickly, the rapid pace of the battle riding us hard. I touched down first, rushing forward to finish him off, my dad touching down with more caution, his white armiger following me as if they were my armiger.

But before I could reach Ardyn someone else was there.

“Luna, get back!” I ordered as my fiancée stepped closer, the trident still clasped in her hand.

“No, Noctis. That is enough,” she said calmly, stopping me in my steps like nothing else as she gently folded onto her knees next to the weakened and gasping figure of Ardyn. “It is finally enough.”

Ardyn gave a choked chuckle, a broken smirk on his face. “H-Has the great Or-racle come to…bless me in my f-final moments?”

Luna hummed, placing the trident on the ground behind her and reaching for the Starscourge. I made an abortive sound in the back of my throat, moving forward again until I was standing at Ardyn’s other side. “Noctis, I’ll need your help,” she murmured, her hands glowing golden.

I looked at her, baffled. “My help? With what?”

“Cleansing him,” she answered serenely, though I could see the pinched look on her face. Whether it was from disagree with what she was about to do or if she was tired or in pain I didn’t know. “I need your help cleansing him.”

I stared in shock, not even understanding the words until Ardyn laughed, making me growl in reflex. “Cl…Cleanse me? My dear, there is no cleansing me. I am the very Scourge itself.”

“Not true,” Luna refuted easily. “You are ill and tainted with the Scourge like many others. But the Scourge was brought to this world by the Infernian and so by the demands of balance the Scourge shall be removed by the Infernian.” I looked past Luna, staring up at the stoically waiting Ifrit, watching the three of us closely. His amber eyes even moved to me mine, his horned head dipping once in a nod. Luna looked up at me. “Please, Noctis.”

I pursed my lips, feeling a headache come on, but slowly sank to my knees as well, my sword shattering my hand and my armiger faded even if the white armiger lingered at my side. “What do you need me to do?”

“Your hands,” she murmured, taking my hands and I shivered as her power washed over me, reaching inside me for something I didn’t know I had. I gasped as her golden light coaxed blue light from my core and out from under my skin, making me suddenly feel too small. It was as if was stretched too thin, something entirely too big inside me wanting to get out. “You will know what to do,” came Luna’s voice as she pressed my hands to the chest of the man between us, her hands resting over mine.

And I suddenly did know what to do.

This energy and life inside me clamoring to get out funneled and shot inside the dark being, clearing the way and attacking the grasping and growling shadows. Behind me, golden light followed, radiating healing energy and purifying the darkness even as I destroyed it. It was like an entire ocean was suddenly being funneled through me, the agony of it taking a backseat to the need and drive to eradicate the darkness I could sense and feel.

It tried to fight back. It tried to run. But there was no escape and no victory for it. Not under my merciless attacks and her unquestioning healing. There would be no rest until it was gone, until every shred of it was erased from existence.

But there was so much. So, so much.

It wasn’t just in this being in front of us. Through him we could see and feel every ounce of taint in the world, every creature, every shadow, everything.

It was too much.

Until fire swept through me.

I nearly fell to an attack by the darkness as fire seared and burned through every inch of my being and while it hurt me, a second look at the fire sweeping through the darkness told me it wasn’t out to hurt me. Like the ocean funneling through me, this wild fire was merely using me as an outlet, a channel. It felt like I was being ripped apart at the seams, but finally we were winning this fight, the flames weakening if not outright swallowing the shadows whole.

I rallied, her golden energy at my back, and dove back into the battle for light and life.

An eternity could’ve passed and I wouldn’t have known. There was no stop until the last shred of darkness was gone, leaving only…peace.

I faded out of that world, slowly coming back to my own body where I was bent nearly in two. My eyes refocused as the blue and gold energy faded, leaving only red energy behind. Red that no longer looked like blood, but like fire. Warm and comforting fire.

My eyes moved up, my aching body straightening reluctantly to see Ifrit lit brightly in his own flames. He nodded once more, even going so far as to lift a hand to place over his heart, before fading again.

Taking the Scourge with him.

“Blessed stars of life and light,” Luna murmured, drawing my attention back to her. She was focused intently on the space between us, her skin pale and her hands trembling ever-so-slightly. “Welcome back, Savior of Eos.”

My eyes followed hers and I found myself looking down at Ardyn. He too looked pale and weakened, but…he looked…different. His eyes appeared to be several shades lighter, his hair no longer maroon, but closer to autumn red. And his face…I’ve never seen that expression on his face.

Wonder. Devastation. Hope. Fear.

“I…,” he croaked, his hands moving shakily to touch mine and Luna’s where we were still braced against his chest. “I am…cleansed?”

Luna smiled and nodded, a tear streaking down her cheek. “Yes. You are. And though your road and journey has been long and winding, you are finally home.

Red eyes blinked quickly, Ardyn’s breathing catching as grief began to overcome him. “I’m home?”

Luna looked up and met my gaze, her lighter blue eyes shining with relief and happiness and I couldn’t help but smile at her. “Yes,” I answered for her, looking down at the man I’d been sworn and destined to destroy and bring to a stop. Never would I have imagined that I would save him instead. “You’re home, Ardyn Lucis Caelum. You’re finally home.”

And the tears that poured down the fallen but returned king’s face, felt more refreshing and relieving than any rain that fell from the skies.

 

FFXV

 

I blinked my eyes open and rolled over to quickly slam a hand over my phone, turning off my alarm before it could get beyond the beginning hum of the loud rock and roll song. The time stared back at me, 3:30am. Normally being up at such a time would’ve had me either gouging out my own eyes, throwing my phone across the room, or growling at whoever woke me up, but instead I found myself smiling as giddy energy flowed through me, though my rush to get out of bed was halted at a soft hum behind me.

“Noctis?”

I turned over again and a softer smile crossed my face as sleepy blue eyes blinked up at me, golden hair fanning over black sheets like a halo. “Go back to sleep,” I whispered, reaching out to brush my hand over Luna’s cheek. She blinked again before turning to kiss my hand and sitting up.

I sighed as her lips met mine, easily melting into her and her soft warmth. We pulled back after a few moments and I feathered more kisses over her cheeks and forehead. “I love you,” I murmured only for her ears to hear.

“I love you too, my dear Noctis,” my wife returned, giving me one last peck before laying back down. “Enjoy your trip.”

I hummed happily as I climbed out of bed and swiped the pile of folded clothes I’d set out last night, walking over to my bathroom to get ready. It was a relief to pull on soft cotton and worn leather rather than the usual starched and ironed silk suit not to mention putting on my reliable boots instead of unforgiving oxfords. Brushing my teeth and styling my hair briefly, I nodded and warped down into the kitchens. Just like I’d bribed a cook last night, there was a cooler waiting by one of the industrial fridges and I picked it up before warping again, this time appearing in my dad’s rooms.

I put the cooler down again and looked over to where my dad was emerging from his bathroom. “Ready?” I asked, taking in the sight of him in a button-up plaid shirt and blue jeans. It nearly made me do a double take seeing him dressed so casually, but that smile was all my dad.

“Quite. Lunafreya is sure she can manage for us?”

I nodded and smirked. “She said she would on one condition.” My dad quirked an eyebrow. “That we leave no note.”

King Regis chuckled and shook his head. “That daughter of mine. Sometimes I forget how mischievous she can be.”

I laughed in agreement before picking up the cooler again. “Alright then. Let’s go.” We both disappeared into our warps and reappeared beside the trusty Regalia. “You want to drive?” I asked as I went around to the trunk, sliding the cooler in next to the other supplies and reapplying a cooling spell to the cooler.

“I think I’ll leave that up to you, son.” My dad yawned, opening the passenger door. “You’ll find as you get older your body is very strict in the amount of sleep you need.”

I rolled my eyes as I closed the trunk and went to the driver’s seat. “You keep saying things about how old you are like you still can’t kick everyone’s asses.”

“Including yours, Noctis,” he warned gravely and I grinned widely as I started the car, running my hands over the steering wheel as the engine purred to life. He leaned his chair back more as I pulled out of the parking spot. “Try to keep it under the speed limit, son.”

“Sure thing,” I replied easily. “We’ve got all the time in the world anyway.”

“Indeed we do.”

The drive through early morning Insomnia was easy with barely any traffic and even with the radio off I found the sound of my dad’s easy breathing to be soothing and relaxing. As we approached the wall’s Western gate a familiar figure hurried over to our lane.

“Morning, Highness,” Nyx mumbled through a yawn. “You owe me for this.”

“Thanks, Nyx. Next round is on me.”

He gave me a baleful look. “That was already a given. The next night is on you.”

I rolled my eyes. “Alright, alright. Get some sleep, man.”

“I would but I’m stuck here for another hour covering your ass.”

“Thank you,” I drawled with a smirk as he stepped back. He gave me the middle finger salute, which I laughed at as I accelerated and drove us away from Insomnia.

I happily and contentedly drove over the long and barren highway through the Liede desert, smiling as the sun rose and gave us a good morning. I would never get over watching the sun rise.

It was just past seven in morning when I pulled into Hammerhead, the slower speed and turns rousing my dad out of his sleep. He squinted and ran a hand through his hair as he looked around. “Dear me, we’re already in Hammerhead?”

I nodded and switched the car off. “Yeah. I’m gonna gas up and get a coffee. The garage looks open if you want to go find Cid.”

My dad’s eyes widened as he was suddenly confronted with a meeting, but it melted into a shy smile. “Well, this has been over thirty years in the making. Son, if I’m not back in ten minutes, the kingdom is yours to rule.”

I smoothed out my expression into a serious façade. “I accept the burden and will rule with wisdom.” I had to snort with laughter then and pushed his shoulder. “Come on, dad.” As the car was fueling up I watched with a smirk as my dad limped over to the garage and when there was no immediate yelling I figured he didn’t need saving and went to go get my coffee. After re-energizing the cooling spell on the cooler I wandered over to the garage, smiling as loud laughter reached my ears.

“So,” I started as I stepped into the building. “Am I going to be king anytime soon?” I asked. Both of the old men looked over from where they were seated on the worn orange couch.

Cid snorted and crossed his arms. “Naw, I’m nah killin’ Reggie today, boy. What’s this I hear ‘bout a fishin’ trip?”

“We’re heading over to Alstor Slough to visit a friend,” I explained. “He just so happens to have a good fishing spot. You want to come? My dad could use the old man company.”

“Now listen here, ya upstart,” Cid growled, rising to his feet and glaring at me. My bad rested both hands on his cane and watched in amusement as his friend threatened me. “You say ‘old man’ like it’s something weak but lemme tell ya I can have ya unconscious and monster bait before ya can apologize. You youngins thinkin’ yur all that when it’s us old men that have the real power.”

I had to bite my cheek to keep from laughing out loud as I held up my hands in surrender, taking a casual sip of my coffee. “Hey, I didn’t mean anything. I meant more as someone who was with him on that trip thirty years ago. From what I can tell, you two have a ton of stories. I’d love to hear them some time.”

The old mechanic huffed and looked at me suspiciously. “And now you roll over like a soft belly lizard. Reggie, are you sure this is your boy?”

My dad smiled benignly. “Yes, I’m quite sure.”

“Huh.” Cid pursed his lips. “Well, he ain’t too shabby. A long way to go, but not a total loss.” I smiled at the old mechanic, knowing how much of a compliment that was coming from him. He turned towards the back of the garage. “If you’ve got room, I’ll come along. Lemme just check with my Cindy girl if she can—”

“Yes!” We all startled when the woman in question burst from a back door and excitedly bounced over to her grandfather. “I can watch the shop, pawpaw. You go and have fun with His Majesty.” She pecked a quick kiss on his weathered cheek and waved at me. “Hi there, Prince! Good to see you again. Take care of my pawpaw today, ‘kay?”

“Of course,” I agreed easily. “You need anything, Cid? Dad, you want a coffee? We’ll be in the car for a few more hours before we get there.”

“I’ll be ready in a few, boy,” the man muttered grumpily as my dad nodded gratefully from the couch. “I don’t have a thousand things to grab like you.” I rolled my eyes at the firm dislike of me. This wasn’t the same Cid I’d won over through my various trips for materials he needed to upgrade my weapons and it seemed he still held the Regalia’s last repairs against me.

Though for all his bristling and sharp words hearing him and my dad talk quickly and happily in the back seat was a precious experience. It had been a long time since I’d seen my dad as lively as he was now, talking with his hands and even talking over Cid in parts as they talked about past trips and memories.

Which were a riot let me tell you. Cor? Rushing off to take on a behemoth on his own to prove himself and cursing anyone who tried to stop him? Clarus getting so wasted he didn’t wake up to everyone drawing on his face? My own father trying to out flirt the ladies man that Weskham had apparently been? Cid pissing off someone in Lestallum enough that they were apparently run out of town? Weskham being petty enough to ignore everyone and pretend they didn’t exist for a week straight?

I had a stitch in my side from laughing so hard by the time I pulled to a stop down a lone dirt road leading to a humble little cabin and neatly repaired fishing dock. I was wiping tears from my face as I climbed out of the car when the door to the cabin opened up.

“You made it! Welcome!” Ardyn called, wiping his hands clean with a rag as he approached. He was dressed in familiar black leather pants coupled with a relaxed button-up shirt that had the sleeves rolled up to his elbows. “I just finished lunch. I hope you’re hungry.”

“Starving,” I groaned. “We skipped breakfast.”

Ardyn tsked, tossing his head to get his light red hair out of his eyes. “Come now, Noct. You should know better. And to make your dear father skip breakfast for shame! Your Majesty, I assure you you’ll be in much better care with me than with your son.” He very obviously preened and I shoved him.

“Shut up.”

“Thank you, Ardyn,” my dad accepted graciously, hiding his smile behind a hand. “And please call me Regis. We’re far from Insomnia. We’re all family and friends here.”

“Quite right, cousin,” Ardyn agreed, wrapping an arm around my shoulders. “I know you have fishing planned, but you simply have to eat first. And welcome to you as well, Mister…Sophiar, right? I’ve heard much about you and your work in mechanics. I must say, you’re a legend in your field of work and…” I rolled my eyes as Ardyn buttered up to the old man. Scourge or not, Ardyn knew how to socialize and make friends.

Ignis texted me around two in the afternoon, sounding utterly baffled about how he couldn’t find me or my dad and Luna was sitting the throne as if nothing was wrong. He even went on to say she was confused about how she shouldn’t be sitting there or acting as Queen. I sent him a single picture when he asked me where I was.

Ardyn was smirking in the majority of the picture, poking a finger into my cheek while I wore a long-suffering expression. In the background you could see my dad and Cid sitting in camping chairs and talking with the cooler open between them. It was obvious by the rod in my hand and the water in the corner where and what we were doing.

I shut my phone off at the seventh text and returned to happily fishing while Ardyn continued to remind me he would always be a nuisance to me and had to make up for the time we hadn’t seen each other.

The Fallen and Returned King had been shaken and uncertain after he was cleansed, staying in Insomnia for a few weeks after the attempted invasion before saying he needed to leave. I didn’t altogether blame him for needing his space. Two thousand years he spent in a haze committing unspeakable atrocities. I’d need a break to figure myself out too if I were him. He’d been just as much a pawn of “destiny” as I’d been, but I’d never know a fraction of how he’d suffered.

He’d travelled around a lot, mailing in sporadic pictures of him in various places around the world with a scrawled note of his experiences before he sent a picture of his present home saying he’d settled down for the time being. While I had my reservations to begin with, letting my previously-destined sworn enemy go free with no supervision, seeing him happy and free of shadow and burden made it plenty clear it was right to let him go. Who knows, maybe he’d return to Insomnia at some point.

“What’s this?”

I glanced over my shoulder, halting mid-drink of my beer as I saw what my dad was pulling from the cooler. Oh, I’d forgotten the little surprise I’d slipped in there. My heart suddenly sped up as my dad turned the baby bottle over in his hand. “Noctis? What’s this doing in the coo—?” He paused as he looked up and caught me smirking very obviously at him. He slowly looked down at the baby bottle in his hand and Ardyn gasped loudly at my side, shooting to his feet. I started grinning as my dad looked back at me with wide eyes sparkling with hope. “Noctis?”

“Yes?” I answered as nonchalantly as possible, though my voice was tight and strained with how hard I was restraining my glee.

“Am I…” My dad swallowed roughly and tightened his grip on the baby bottle. “Am I going to be a grandfather?” I grinned and nodded my head.

“Yahoo!” Cid shouted, jumping to his feet and slapping a hand on my dad’s shoulder. Ardyn had already picked me up and spun me in a circle.

“A baby, Noct?” Ardyn exclaimed. “You’re going to be a father?”

“Yeah! Now put me down!” I staggered as I was set on my feet, clutching the taller man for a moment before smirking. “Yeah, Luna’s pregnant. She found out earlier this week. And we’re going to need a godfather.” The thrilled and excited look on Ardyn’s face suddenly dropped into shock. “Luna’s the one that suggested it, but I think it’s a good idea. Who better to be the baby’s protector than the Star Savior himself.”

“I’m not the Star Savior,” Ardyn mumbled numbly as if on autopilot, still trying process.

I rolled my eyes. “Yes, you were. So, what do you say? Will you be our child’s godfather?”

“I…” Ardyn swallowed and had to put his face in his hands for a long moment, taking deep breaths. He finally straightened and I smiled softly at his obviously wet eyes. “I would be honored, Noctis. Thank you. _Thank you_. I will watch over and guide the child. They shall know love and safety like no other. That I promise you.”

“I know, Ardyn.” I pulled the man forward and wrapped him tightly in a hug, feeling him tremble slightly. “Thank you.”

He nodded and stepped back, sniffling and rubbing his eyes. “Well, I dare say this is a cause for celebration. I’ll break out the liquor!” He vanished in a shower of red ghostly glass and I turned my gaze back to my dad, who was still staring down at the baby bottle in wonder as Cid congratulated him.

As if sensing my gaze, my dad looked up and he smiled, rising from his seat. I met him halfway and accepted his hug.

“I am so proud of you,” he whispered and I hugged him tighter.

“Thank you, dad. For everything.”


End file.
